Behind the Scenes with µ's!
by nobodD
Summary: What goes into writing the songs we love so much? How do they come up with the dance moves we enjoy watching? Just how do the girls manage to get things done? Here's my take on what happens behind the scenes of the music and videos of µ's.
1. Snow Halation

**Hey everyone! nobodD once again. This will probably be the only time I post 2 things within such a short time of each other. After I posted my 3rd one-shot (which you should totally read :P) my sister had given me yet another amazing idea.**

**After all, to my knowledge I haven't seen anyone try a fanfic like this before. When the idea was suggested to me, the ideas just came flooding in and i came up with this.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

"Hai, hai. We're starting now, everyone." Eri clapped her hands a few times until the room was quiet. "Alright, Maki-chan."

The nine members of Muse had gathered in the club room as usual. They were all seated around the table, except for Eri, as she was directing the meeting.

Maki now stood up with a few sheets of paper. "Hai. I finished writing our second single. It's titled 'Snow Halation.' A winter-themed love song."

Maki began passing a copy to each member.

"A love song huh? Is there someone you're after, Maki-chan?" Nico teased. Maki responded by hitting her on the head with the papers.

"Sounds exciting. Love in winter just mixes." Nozomi said cheerfully.

"Right? Ahh I can't wait to start!" Rin said excitedly.

"Hai hai." Eri clapped her hands again to quiet everyone down. "We all know what to do right?"

"You and I will start on the choreography," Umi said.

"Nico-chan and I will start with the costumes," chimed Kotori's cheerful voice.

"And the rest of us will start practicing with Maki-chan." Hanayo finished the summary.

Eri nodded. "Good. Let's work throughout the week. Next week we'll check in on progress." Nods went around the room. "Alright, Honoka?"

"Mhm." Everyone got up and put two fingers in, forming a nine-pointed star. "Let's make this single even more successful than the last. Let's put all our energy into it! Muse.. GO!" Honoka yelled, and everyone cheered in response.

With that, everyone went to start working. Nico and Kotori stayed in the clubroom, Eri and Umi headed for the rooftop, and the rest headed for the music room. The duos working on costumes and choreography were also given recordings of the music with Maki singing the lead part for reference.

* * *

Maki sat at the piano. She set up the music player and started the recording. The other four followed along with the lyrics as the song played.

As the song finished, Nozomi nodded her head a few times. "Mhm, sounds good."

"Yeah! Maki-chan is amazing at this!" Rin exclaimed excitedly.

Maki let the comment slide. "So, shall we sing it a few times?"

"We should sing it according to parts first," Honoka suggested.

"That sounds good." Nozomi agreed. "So, we'll practice together first?"

"Mhm! And Maki-chan and Rin-chan together." Honoka turned to Hanayo, "Is it alright?"

Hanayo nodded. "Y-yeah. It's just practice so I'll be fine."

With that they spread a bit apart to hear each other better. They sang in this way about three times, then came together as five and sang the song another five times. Between each time Maki had penciled something down on her notebook.

"It's coming along nicely." She said, looking at the notes she made. "Honoka you can actually give it a little more power the lines you sing alone. But starting it softly was really good."

Honoka nodded and wrote Maki's advice down on her paper. "Hai. I think we need to work on the tempo during the second verse. We were a little off."

"Yeah you're right." Maki agreed.

"Was my pitch a little too high during that verse? I think I was off."

"Mmm..." Maki scanned her notes. "Yeah.. but just slightly." She walked over to the piano and played the note for Hanayo to hear. "See? Just remember to take care of how you start the notes in that range."

"Maki-chan I think we need to work on our harmony a little more. I was a bit high." Rin said.

"No no, you were fine. I actually was starting low there. But you're right we should find something that fits better."

"I think same goes for us Honoka-chan. My pitch didn't feel like it matched yours properly." Nozomi said.

"Mm, alright. I might have been off actually but we can check again."

Another three times split up, and another five times together before they called it a day. They sat around drinking water to refresh themselves while they looked over each other's notes once more.

"Alright," Maki said, organizing her things. "I think tomorrow we can start adding adjustments with the others' voices in consideration."

The others nodded in agreement.

"It's a good thing Maki taught us a lot about music. I think it's really helping us with our singing." Rin voiced her thoughts to the others.

Nozomi agreed. "Indeed. It's a lot easier than when we first started."

Honoka stood up and stretched. "Ah.. Good job today everyone. Let's put in the more effort tomorrow." Everyone nodded. "Well I think we can call it a day."

Everyone got up, gathered there things and headed for the front gate. Everyone exchanged goodbyes and headed off in the separate directions to their houses.

* * *

Kotori played the recording a few times while going through the lyrics. Nico searched for videos similar to their song for ideas.

"Hmm... Nico-chan, should our outfits be identical or do you think we should have more variety this time?"

Nico paused the video she was on. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Mmm... Our first single's outfits were pretty identical. I think this time we should add more noticeable variety."

"That's true." Kotori began to randomly sketch, hoping for ideas. "Since its winter themed we should have fluffy parts."

Nico chuckled at the comment. "That's not a bad idea. I'd like that." She said in agreement with Kotori.

They continued for some time. Eventually Nico found something she thought might work.

"Hey, Kotori-chan. How about something like this?"

Kotori got up to stand beside Nico and look at the computer. The screen had a video paused with a view of all the members performing.

"Some of the parts on their costumes are nice. We could probably use those as a starting point."

Kotori looked at it a little closer. "You're right. Those are pretty cute. Let me write the video titles down. I think I can start sketching at home with these."

"Alright. I'll continue looking at home too and send you anything I find."

Kotori nodded and went back to collect her stuff. Nico got up from the chair and stretched. "We finally found a starting point. Thank goodness."

"Hehe, yeah."

Kotori got her stuff ready then went up to Nico. She began messaging Nico's shoulders.

"Ah... That's nice. Since when could you give massages?"

"Heh, well sometimes Honoka could be quite a lot to handle. Takes a lot out of Umi-chan sometimes."

"I can completely understand," Nico said, somewhat exaggeratedly.

They both laughed. Kotori finished up her mini-massage and let Nico get her stuff packed up.

"Alright, well here's to success tomorrow." Nico held her hand up.

"Mhm!" Kotori gave Nico an enthusiastic high-five before they left the room to head home.

* * *

Eri sat down on a bench and took a sip of water. "We're making good progress, this is good."

Umi and Eri had listened to the song once before getting to work. Umi had already started coming up with ideas and they made quite a lot of progress already.

"I think that just about does it for you, Nozomi-chan, and Honoka-chan. Unless there's something you'd like to add."

Umi shook her head. "Aside from the ending, which we need everyone else for, that should be good. Since we have extra time today, should we start on another group?"

Eri thought about it. "Sure. We can try and get through the first chorus for another group."

"Alright. Let's start you, Hanayo-chan, and Nico-chan's next. I have some ideas after the opening where we're all together."

Eri watched as Umi ran through her ideas for each of the three in this group.

"Yeah, that's a great start. I think for the line before the chorus we could lead into it a little differently though."

"Hmm..." Umi thought for a second. "Oh I know. You three could do something like this." She performed her next idea. "And then since we're coming together here, Maki-chan, Rin-chan, and Kotori-chan will mirror it on the other side of my group."

Eri pictured it in her head. "Yeah that sounds good. How about we run through everything we've done so far?"

Umi nodded, and they ran through the steps again. At the end, they sat down to drink water and rest a bit.

"You seem on top of things today, Umi-chan."

"Eheh. Well after everything you did for our first single, I thought I should try to come up with a lot of the ideas this time."

"Heh, alright. But remember-"

"I know, we're a team. I think that made this a lot easier. Knowing I can put out a lot of ideas and you'll be there to help improve them."

Eri smiled at Umi. "True. But this time you've been nailing almost everything."

"T-thanks."

Eri stood up and turned to offer Umi a hand. Umi smiled and accepted. Eri helped Umi to her feet. They got their things together and started walking down from the rooftop.

"At this rate we might be able to finish tomorrow."

"True. The parts sync up pretty easily." Eri thought for a minute. "Alright then, our goal for tomorrow will be to try and finish everything."

"Hai," Umi nodded.

* * *

The next few days seemed to fly by for the girls.

The day after, the girls in the music room had finished their edits early. Honoka and Hanayo headed to the rooftop and the rest headed back to the clubroom to start putting their notes onto the other four's music copies.

On the rooftop, Umi and Eri finished fine-tuning the choreography in time for Honoka and Hanayo to arrive. They transferred their notes to Umi and Eri's music. Umi started to teach Honoka the steps, while Hanayo started Eri on the music.

As the other three entered the clubroom, they found Nico and Kotori already on the sewing machines hard at work. Maki sat at the computer and started transferring the notes and changes. Nozomi and Rin joined the other two to assist in the sewing.

The next few days the girls went between the rooms in groups of three. Either Maki or Honoka was in the music room helping with the vocal coaching while the other was at the other two rooms. Umi or Eri was at the rooftop to teach the choreography. Nico or Kotori was in the clubroom to oversee the sewing.

* * *

A week had passed. They gathered in the clubroom after school for their routine meeting during these kind of preparation periods.

"Alright, by the look of it, I think we're ready to start practice as a full group." Eri said.

Nods went around the room. Nozomi put a hand up.

"I think for the music video we also need a kind of story going on this time."

"Like, the parts where we don't show our routine?" Rin asked.

"Mhm. Especially because of the song, I think it would fit perfectly."

"Well what did you have in mind?" Eri asked.

"I think you could all guess already." Nozomi replied with a smile.

"A love story with a confession and a lot of emotions?" Maki said.

Nozomi smiled to show Maki had nearly guessed it right.

"So, who will it focus on?" Honoka asked.

"Funny you should ask that," Nozomi said. Everyone turned to face Honoka.

"You all want me to?"

Everyone nodded. "Is that alright?" Eri asked.

Honoka smiled. "Of course! Anything for Muse."

"Alright. Then the goal is to have this done by the end of the week. Honoka?"

"Mhm!" Everyone gathered around. "You heard her girls. We're close to the end but we can't slow down. Now's the time to use everything we've got. Muse..."

"GO!" Everyone cheered at once.

They spent the next two days practicing the choreography. By the third day they started filming it. The next day they spent filming Nozomi's story idea.

"Honoka-chan really was the best fit for this." Umi said, admiring how well Honoka was doing.

Nozomi and Honoka were a bit away from the others as Nozomi explained the next scene to her. The other girls agreed with Umi.

"I think everyone knew it had to be her from the start." Nico said.

"Weird, I thought you would've said that you should've been in her position," Maki said teasingly.

Nico gave her a look and the seven of them shared a laugh.

Honoka looked over out of curiosity.

"Hey, we're almost done, just a little bit more."

"Ah, hai. Sorry Nozomi-chan."

"That's alright Honoka-chan. I need you to do something for me actually."

"Mm? What is it?"

Nozomi turned Honoka so that Honoka's back was to the others. She took both of Honoka's hands in hers. "Act surprised for me, as if someone just confessed to you."

Honoka wanted to ask why, but she decided not to. She tried to imagine a certain someone confessing to her. She stepped back, slightly read, staring at the ground as if not sure what to say.

"H-hey what's going on over there?!" She heard Rin scream from behind her. She quickly realized what Nozomi was trying to do.

"Nothing!" Nozomi called. "It was just-"

Honoka had stepped back a bit more from Nozomi, causing her to release Honoka's hands. Honoka brought them behind her back, pretending to act shy. "I-I'm sorry Nozomi-chan. I'm not sure how to answer you just yet."

"Wha-" Nozomi started realizing her little joke was being turned on her.

"Hey wait a second what are you-" Nico began, but Honoka had turned around.

"Hehe, sorry." She said, putting both her hands together in front of her and sticking her tongue out playfully. "My fault. I just thought I'd play a little joke with all of you, since you all have just been watching for a while. Don't blame Nozomi-chan, it was my idea."

"Well," Eri said, sighing a little, "A little fun every now and then is fine. But how about we finish this since we're close?"

"Hai!" Honoka called out. She then turned to Nozomi and gave her a wink for only her to see.

Nozomi just smiled, realizing Honoka just took the blame for her wanting to play a trick on the others.

* * *

By the end of the week, Muse had put out 'Snow Halation,' their second single. Both the song as well as the video saw a huge amount of success. In school, Honoka in particular got a lot of attention for the role she played in the side story of the video. People had asked her if she was just acting or she had experienced it before.

Honoka smiled, responding with, "Well it was just acting at the time. But I do have my eye on someone. And hopefully they have their eye on me."

While the school started to wonder who this mysterious person could be that Honoka had just claimed to be showing interest in, most people guessed it was someone outside the school. For the remaining eight Muse girls, they had quite a better guess.

It was possible Honoka was just joking, putting on a show for everyone. But if she were serious, it had to be one of them that she was referring to.

They decided not to look too much into it for now. It was Honoka after all. Right now, the nine of them could enjoy the growing success of Muse, as well as each other's company as they continued as idols.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked it :D**

**This will be my first fanfic that isn't a one-shot *shocked* So yes, you can expect more chapters!**

**The idea is pretty simple. This is my take on how the girls come up with their amazing songs and awesome videos. The chapters will usually focus on a song, but I will likely throw in chapters of interactions between songs.**

**I actually wrote the ending this way on purpose. From Nozomi's little joke till the end. As you saw, the girls are all pretty close with each other. If you guys would like, I can add pairings into this as we go along. I need to know if you guys would like that though. Because I can still leave the interactions the way they are if you guys prefer that. Let me know!**

**Feedback/reviews are welcome. PM me if you guys want to see a particular pairing for a one-shot or another story.**

**That's it from me. Until next time~**


	2. Intermission: Day Off

Sunday morning. Honoka sat up in bed and stretched. Light was seeping through her curtains, and lighting up part of her room. She gave a satisfied smile. She wasn't sure why, but she had a good feeling about today. She went to the kitchen for some breakfast. She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted once she entered, and in the end just made some toast. She sat down at the table to eat.

"Ah, Onee-chan, you're up already?"

Honoka turned to see her younger sister walk into the kitchen.

"Ah, ohayou Yukiho-chan!" Honoka said through a bite of toast.

"Onee-chan.. don't talk with your mouth full."

"Eheh, sorry." She said, before taking another bite.

"Ah, too bad I woke up after you. I could have made you something for breakfast," Yukiho said as she sat down to join her sister. Honoka offered her one of her slices of toast. "Thanks," She said as she took the slice from Honoka and took a bite.

"Mhm. So when did you start to cook?"

"Oh, a few weeks ago. You know, you should learn to make your own meals as well, Onee-chan. It can be very helpful."

"With _'that'_?"

"Eh?" Yukiho looked confused.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you wanted to learn yourself is to make things for-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Yukiho pleaded.

Honoka smiled in satisfaction at that. Yukiho sighed and took another bite of toast.

"...You knew?"

"I'm your big sister. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"Well..." Yukiho began. Honoka gave her a look and waited. "You can be a little.. slow with some things.."

Honoka giggled at that. "Okay okay, fair enough." She helped herself to another slice of toast.

"So what about you, Onee-chan?"

"Me?"

"Well, you're up pretty early on a Sunday. And on top of what you said at school. Do you have someone you like?"

Honoka slowly swallowed the bite of toast she was working on. Yukiho eyed her, waiting patiently for an answer. Honoka realized the mistake she made in teasing Yukiho now.

"Well..." She began hesitantly. "You could say that, I guess.."

"Onee-chan.." Yukiho said impatiently.

"A-anyways. I just woke up early today. I'm thinking about just going for a walk today."

Yukiho sighed. Honoka gave a nervous laugh.

"Honest. I had no plans today but I woke up wanting to take a walk."

"I don't doubt you on that, Onee-chan."

Honoka gave a defeated sigh. She knew she had no escape.

"Ok, there might be someone I like. But that's all you get for today."

Yukiho grinned. "I guess that answer will do for now."

They finished the rest of breakfast together in peace. Yukiho put their plates away. Honoka got up and gave a stretch, then went to her room to change. She put on a plaid red skirt and a light grey sweater with the word 'Love' on it. She fixed her hair, putting part of it into a pony tail and holding it with a ribbon. When she was satisfied, she grabbed a handbag and head back out.

"Alright, I'm off!"

"Take care, Onee-chan!"

"Thanks. Have fun with Arisa-chan!"

"Hey!-"

Honoka got out the door before Yukiho could say any more. She was greeted by a cool breeze once outside. It was a fairly clear day, despite still being winter. _'So, what awaits me today, I wonder,'_ she thought to herself.

She had nowhere in particular she wanted to walk, so she decided to head to the park first. Not many people were here in the morning. She enjoyed the calm atmosphere as she slowly made her way around the park. After she had finished at the park, she went into town. As she was walking down the streets, she passed by a store with a big TV screen. It was playing 'Snow Halation,' and had attracted a large crowd as people tried to get a view. She smiled as she passed by.

"Honoka-chan!"

Honoka stopped as she heard her name and turned. She saw the one who called out to her making her way over and smiled.

"Hanayo-chan!"

Hanayo caught up to Honoka, and took a second to catch her breath. She was wearing a very green outfit, Honoka saw. Light green jacket, green skirt, light green scarf, and a green beret. Even her leggings and shoes. Though, Hanayo wasn't wearing her glasses.

"Is green the theme of the day?" Honoka asked, amused.

"Eh? Ah, eheh. I guess you could say that."

"Well, I think it's cute."

Hanayo smiled. "Thanks Honoka-chan."

Honoka smiled back. She noticed something behind Hanayo. A group of girls were looking in their direction, and seemed to be whispering to each other. _'Wonderful,'_ Honoka thought dully to herself. _'They must've heard Hanayo call my name out and got curious._' She grabbed Hanayo and started leading her away.

"Eh? Honoka-chan what's going on?"

"I think we might have been recognized. And I was kind of hoping for some peace today."

She led Hanayo down the street, around a corner, and into a cafe. She waited a minute. She may have overreacted, after giving it some thought, but better to be safe than sorry.

"Think it's safe now?" Hanayo asked curiously.

"I think so." Honoka looked around the cafe. It wasn't that busy yet as it just became afternoon. "How about we try this place out?"

Hanayo nodded, so they got two seats toward the back of the cafe. They ordered some warm tea and some sweets.

"It's quite rare though. For Honoka-chan to want peace and quiet. You usually love interacting with fans." Hanayo said as they got their orders.

"I'm not really sure why either, to be honest. Just felt like a change of pace." She took a bite of her cake. "Wahh~ This is good!"

Hanayo gigged before taking a bite of her own cake.

"Speaking of rare. Where's Rin-chan? It's rare that you two aren't together."

"Ah, well, it's similar to you honestly. I was just out for a walk. We made plans to meet up later."

They finished up their orders, said their goodbyes, and headed off in separate ways. Honoka decided to head back to the park. She bought a crepe from a nearby cart then went through the trees. She picked a spot far from the paths, sat against a tree, and began working on her crepe. The wind blew, slowly shaking the trees. The tree Honoka sat against protected her from the wind. Honoka felt completely relaxed.

"Ah, Honoka-san."

Honoka sat back up and opened her eyes. She found Eri's sister, Arisa, standing in front of her.

"Ah, Arisa-chan. Kon'nichiwa."

"Kon'nichiwa." She bowed. "Say, what are you doing here? The main part of the park is far from here."

"I know. I kind of wanted a quiet place to relax though. What about you?"

"Well, I came looking for you. I was actually coming over to see Yukiho-chan, and saw you in the park. I thought you could take me to your house."

"Sure. I was thinking of when to head home anyway."

Honoka got up, and together with Arisa started walking to her house. Arisa was excitedly talking about 'Snow Halation' as they walked. She smiled at Arisa's enthusiasm. They finally got to the house and Honoka led them inside.

"Yukiho-chan, Arisa-chan is here!" Honoka called out as they entered.

"Coming!" Yukiho called back as she stepped out from the kitchen.

"Say, where's mom and dad?"

"I'm not sure. They just said they'll be back by dinner."

"Oh, alright." Honoka smelled something from the kitchen, and grinned. "Well I'll be in my room. Have fun you two."

Yukiho caught Honoka grinning, but Arisa didn't.

"Thank you, we will," Arisa replied sweetly.

Honoka headed to her room. Before entering the hallway though, she turned around. "Hey just because mom and dad aren't home-"

"Onee-chan!" Yukiho interrupted.

Honoka just laughed and headed to her room. She left behind a confused Arisa a blushing yet annoyed Yukiho. Though, once she reached her room, she wasn't sure what to do. She elected to try and relax until dinner, or until something else popped up. No such luck, though. So Honoka had a relaxing day. Later that night though, Yukiho came into Honoka's room.

"Onee-chan, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, why?"

"Come with me please, I have something to show you."

Yukiho led Honoka to the kitchen. She couldn't believe what she saw.

"Yukiho-chan.. did you.."

"Arisa-chan and I made it today, while you were in the room. Can you take it to school tomorrow for everyone?"

Honoka did just that. After school, she asked Muse to stay in the clubroom until she returned. So everyone waited patiently.

"Sorry, I came as fast as I could," Honoka panted as she entered the room, carrying a box.

"It's alright," Umi replied. "So are you going to tell us what this is all about?"

"This."

Honoka put the box on the table and undid the ribbon, and finally lifted the top. Everyone gazed in amazement.

"Honoka-chan, did you..." Eri began.

"Nope. Actually, it was our little sisters that made it. As congratulations for our new single."

There on the table sat a beautiful ice cream cake. On top, in icing, was _"Snow Halation by µ's! Thank you!" _Around the cake was each of them drawn in their outfits from the song. They happily enjoyed the cake and each other's company.

* * *

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :D**

**By the way, I'm including romance into the genre for later chapters. However, this chapter wasn't meant to be part of that. This was just meant to be a fun, relaxing little chapter. I also wanted to write some interaction with the little sisters, since they deserve some attention, too :p**

******If you're wondering, Honoka's outfit is from one of her newest cards in School Idol Festial, and Hanayo's is from a fanart I saw. If I could link the pics I would =\**

******That's all for now. Until next time!**


	3. Listen to my Heart

"Web radio?"

Otonokizaka High School just had its Winter Break. Muse is reunited for the first time since celebrating the success of 'Snow Halation.' The other eight members of Muse now look at their ginger-haired leader, filled with questions after having just heard the news.

"Mhm." Honoka nodded. She picked up her phone, which was passed around to show the message she received.

"I just got this message yesterday. Apparently we caught the attention of some web radio named _'Spin City,'_ and they're asking if we can come up with a song to feature on their web station."

" _'Spin City,'_ huh.." Maki said thoughtfully.

"Do you know of it, Maki-nyan?" Rin asked.

"Hai. They're a really popular web station. It's not easy to have your songs played there. They can be very... picky. But for aspiring artists that's a place to start."

"Then... since they're asking us for a song for them to feature..." Eri thought aloud.

"This is a pretty big deal." Umi finished.

"Well we definitely can't pass this up." Nico said. "We should do it."

"Hold on there, Nico-chan." Maki said. "We just got back from vacation. And there's a lot of stuff I have to take care of at home. I don't know if I can help with this one."

"Ehh? But-" Honoka began.

"Honoka-chan," Kotori interrupted. "Maki-chan said she has a lot to do. It can't be helped, right? Besides, we have something we need to take care of, too."

"Oh, right.." Honoka said, realizing Kotori was right. "I'm sorry, I forgot about that."

"Actually, we should probably go now to start on it." Kotori got up from her seat.

"Eh? Wait I need to-" But Honoka was interrupted as Kotori took her by the arm and started leading her out of the room.

"It's alright, you all can handle it from here right?"

Kotori didn't wait for an answer. Honoka and Kotori disappeared into the hallway.

"..What was that all about?" Nozomi asked the question they were all thinking.

"I.. I don't know. They didn't tell me anything." Umi said. The remaining members turned to her in surprise.

"What? Not even you?" Eri asked. Umi shook her head.

"Well.. as it stands.." Maki said, trying to recover from her surprise. "I'm going to be pretty busy, so I don't know how much I'll be able to help."

"That's a shame... We're about to have a lot of work for the Student Council as well." Nozomi said.

"That's right.." Eri added, a little upset. "We took a bit of time off from the Student Council during the break, so we need to address that work now."

"I need to practice for the Archery Club as well." Umi said, a little worried.

"Well, I'm up for it. I don't have anything like you guys have." Rin said, trying to bring something positive back to the atmosphere. "Kayo-chin? Nico-nyan?"

"I'm up for it," Nico said. "Hanayo-chan?"

"I.. I think I'm free." Hanayo said a little worried. "Do you think it'll be enough for just us three?"

"It's going to have to be. But don't worry, the three of us can pull it off!" Rin said confidently.

"Well, if you think you'll be fine as three, then we can still accept their request." Eri said. "Are you sure, though?"

"Definitely. We can't let them down."

"We'll be fine," Nico said. "Definitely nothing we can't handle." Hanayo just nodded.

"Alright. Umi-chan, tell Honoka-chan to reply and let them know we'll have a song for them."

Umi nodded to Eri and pulled out her phone. Eri looked once more at Rin. She saw the determination on Rin's face.

"Alright then. You three will handle the song for the web radio. We'll try when we can to help. Progress check next week."

With the meeting over, Maki, Eri, Nozomi, and Umi all left the clubroom. Nico turned to the two First-years.

"So..."

"How about we try coming up with ideas for lyrics first?" Rin suggested.

"Y-yeah, we can start there."

Two hours passed. Nico stared at the notebook in front of them. The page was filled front and back with scratched out ideas. She scratched her head in annoyance.

"Ah, we're not getting anywhere with this!"

"N- Nico-chan, calm down a bit." Hanayo said gently.

"Ugh, this is frustrating." Nico rested her head on the table.

Rin glanced over their crossed off ideas. "Hmm..What kind of song do we want?"

"What do you mean?" Hanayo looked to Rin.

"Like, what kind of mood? Let's start there. Do we want it to be happy? Or sad? Should it be about love?"

Nico lifted her head from the table. "Well, they requested us because of _'Snow Halation'_ right? Should we do something similar?"

"Well.." Hanayo started hesitantly, since winter is starting to pass, why don't we try something that contrasts that?"

Both heads turned to Hanayo. "What do you mean?" Nico asked.

"Well, why not write a happier song? We're in a new year now."

"That sounds great!" Rin said excitedly. "What do you think Nico-nyan?"

"Sounds good to me." Nico agreed. "Well, we have somewhere to start now."

Rin turned to look out the window. "It's getting late though..."

"Let's stop here then." Nico suggested. "We finally have a starting point. We can continue tomorrow."

"But..." Rin began, not wanting to leave quite yet.

"Rin-chan, it'll be better this way. We can get some rest and have a fresh start tomorrow. It'll definitely help us."

"Nico-chan is right," Hanayo agreed. "Some rest can help. We shouldn't push too hard on the first day."

"Alright. You two are right, sorry." Rin said.

"Don't worry about it. We know you're just excited is all." Nico said reassuringly. The three of them got their things together and left the school.

Later that night, though, Rin found herself not wanting to sleep. Her head has been buzzing around with ideas since they left. She began writing them down in a notebook. She continued for some time until her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Rin-chan?" Hanayo's voice came.

"Kayo-chin!"

"Eheh, I figured you would still be this energetic this late. Please go to sleep soon, ok?"

"Aww Kayo-chin, you worry too much!" She scratched the back of her head. "Though you're right, I am pretty energetic right now. I'll go to sleep soon don't worry. See you tomorrow!"

"Mhm. Bye bye."

Rin put her phone down. She spent another few minutes writing before she finally called it a night. Satisfied with what she got, she crawled into bed and went to sleep.

* * *

The school day went by uneventfully. Seven Muse girls gathered in the clubroom once more.

"Where's Honoka-chan and Kotori-chan?" Rin asked curiously.

"They left as soon as the day ended." Umi said. "I thought maybe they came here earlier."

They seven of them had a brief meeting before everyone got up to leave. Maki stayed behind. She put a CD down on the table.

"Here, I put this together last night. It's not much but maybe it'll help."

"Thanks, Maki-chan." Nico said.

"Last night? Did you stay up late? Is that why you were dozing off during class?" Hanayo asked.

"It couldn't be helped." Maki replied. "I didn't get any free time until it was night."

"Well, thanks Maki-nyan. It'll be a big help I'm sure!" Rin said

Maki smiled at Rin's enthusiasm. "Well I hope so. Alright, I'm off." With an exchange of goodbyes, Maki left the room.

The three of them listened to Maki's recording. As it ended, Rin clapped her hands excitedly. "Ah this is perfect!"

Nico and Hanayo looked at Rin curiously. "Why's that?" Nico asked.

Rin pulled out her notebook and showed them what she had come up with last night.

"This could work." Nico said, nodding as she finished reading. "Good job."

"Was this why you were up late last night?" Hanayo asked.

"Eheh, yeah," Rin said.

"Hmm, I think a little bit would need to be changed to fit Maki-chan's composition.." Nico said, thinking about the song again.

"Yeah, but that shouldn't be too hard now." Rin said happily.

"You'll have to tell us how you wanted the harmony to go."

With that, the three of them replayed Maki's recording over and over, adjusting Rin's lyrics. Rin sang after every change, and they made minor tweaks here and there. By the end of the day, they had worked out each of their parts.

"Alright, let's call it a day here." Nico said. Rin and Hanayo sat back in their chairs. Nico looked over their work so far. "I think tomorrow we can start practicing."

"I can take that home and make copies if you want." Hanayo offered.

Nico nodded and handed the paper to Hanayo.

"Luckily it's just the song, and we don't need to have a music video along with it this time." Rin said.

"You would've come up with something like you did with these lyrics, right Rin-chan?" Nico said jokingly.

"Eheh, I don't know about that."

The three of them cleaned up the room and left the school.

* * *

The next day went by as normal, and Muse gathered in their clubroom like usual.

"Where have you two been?" Eri asked.

"Sorry," Kotori said honestly. "We've been working on an idea Honoka-chan came up with."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Secret," Honoka said simply.

"Hey, come on now. Tell us!" Maki said, a little curious.

"Now now, Maki-chan," Nozomi said calmly. "They'll tell us when they're good and ready, right?"

"Mhm! You'll all definitely get to know once its ready." Honoka said happily.

"We should get going," Kotori said to Honoka.

Honoka nodded, and they both exited the room. Hanayo handed Maki an extra copy of the lyrics, and Maki said she'll try and have something ready. The other four left afterwards. Nico, Rin, and Hanayo went to the Music Room. They rehearsed for the entire time.

* * *

The next day came.

"Where's Maki-chan?" Eri asked.

"She was sent home early." Hanayo answered. "She stayed up late again last night, but this time she couldn't keep herself up during class. She gave me the music before she left." The last part was directed towards Rin and Nico, who both nodded.

"Well, we can stop by and check on her on our way. Make sure she's well." Kotori said.

"Just what are you two doing?" Nico asked.

Neither of them directly answered, and both Honoka and Kotori left soon after. The other six dismissed it and separated once again. Nico, Rin, and Hanayo listened to Maki's new recording in the music room.

"I guess I can understand why she was so tired." Hanayo said as the recording finished.

Nico and Rin nodded. "Despite everything she says she has to do, she did a great job." Nico admired.

"Alright, let's get started!" Rin said excitedly.

They rehearsed again, this time with the new music.

"I think I need to be careful about when I enter." Hanayo said.

"A little. We also need to sing a little louder here so we aren't drowned out by the music." Rin pointed.

"Yeah. We also should slow down here to match the rhythm." Nico added.

They continued their adjustments to the new music. They practiced and practiced for two hours straight, none of them wanting to take a break.

"Alright, I think that's all we can do today." Nico said wearily.

"Yeah.. But I think we can start recording tomorrow." Rin said happily.

They made some final notes on their papers. Rin called Maki to ask for her recording equipment for tomorrow. Afterwards they all headed home.

* * *

The next day came and went. Maki gave the recording equipment before leaving. Nico, Rin, and Hanayo spent the day doing recording attempts. Each time, however, was either a mistake or they made more changes to the song.

"Not good..." Rin said worriedly. "The day's almost over but we're not done."

"We're going to have to meet during the weekend. Is that alright with you two?" Nico asked.

"Mhm. By the looks of it, it'll give us time for more changes too if we need it." Hanayo said.

They left school after that. They met over the weekend at Nico's house for the next two days. They went between working on the song and helping Nico take care of her sisters. By the end of Sunday, they collapsed onto the couches.

"I.. I think we've finally got it" Nico breathed.

"Y.. yeah.. I think so." Rin responded slowly.

The next day came. They managed to make it through the school day and make it into the clubroom. Each of them rested on the table.

"This is good." Eri said, as the recording finished playing. "Good work, you three."

"T-thanks.." Rin managed to say.

"Hehe, well, you three definitely deserve a rest." Nozomi said smiling.

"Sorry we weren't able to help much," Umi apologized.

"T-that's alright," Nico barely got out.

Hanayo managed to sit back up. She smiled lightly. "Eheh, Nico-chan's sisters were quite a handful for them."

"What about you?" Maki asked.

"I helped, but I didn't play with them nearly as much as these two did."

"Alright. Honoka-chan, they said they'll start playing it tonight?"

"Mhm!" Honoka nodded. "Since they sent it in last night, they'll start playing it tonight."

"Good." Eri turned to Nico, Rin, and Hanayo. "We'll make it up to you three. But for now, you can rest for a job well done."

"I think Rin-chan and Nico-chan are way ahead of you," Kotori said with a giggle.

Nico and Rin had fallen asleep at the table. The others laughed and left them to rest.

"Well, after today we should be caught up with the Student Council." Eri said.

"We have a tournament this weekend. After that it should be ok." Umi said.

"My family situation is pretty much settled. Another day or two and I should be in the clear." Maki said.

The five turned to Honoka and Kotori.

"Eheh, we're not quite ready yet." Honoka said, somewhat nervously.

"Aww. I've been really curious lately." Hanayo said a little disappointed.

* * *

They stayed in the clubroom for another hour before they decided to go. They woke up Rin and Nico, and the nine of them made their way to the front. As they started heading their separate ways, Honoka stopped Hanayo.

"Hanayo-chan, can we ask you something?"

"Eh? Um, sure.."

"Alright. Come with us."

"Where are we going?"

"Honoka-chan's house." Kotori said

Hanayo gave a confused look, but followed along.

They reached Honoka's house and went into her room. Hanayo looked around. She hasn't been in here since Muse was first formed and only Honoka, Umi, and Kotori were the members. She smiled a bit at the memory. The three of them sat around the small table in the room. Honoka put on the _'Spin City'_ station on her computer. Hanayo looked anxiously as her two senpai looked at each other. Finally, Honoka turned to face Hanayo.

"Hanayo-chan..." She began. Then stopped.

"Y-yes?" Hanayo answered, waiting.

"Kotori-chan... maybe you should just do it."

"Alright." Kotori crawled on her knees to Hanayo and whispered something in her ear.

"EHH?!" Hanayo screamed in complete surprise from Kotori's question.

_"And now, we have a special song from a few of the members from Muse. Here is 'Listen to my Heart' by NicoRinPana of Muse!" _came from the computer, and the silent room was filled with the music.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD once again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know in the reviews!**

**What have Honoka and Kotori been doing this entire time? And what could they have possibly said to Hanayo to get that kind of reaction? I'm sure you'll figure it out ;) No spoilers though, please.**

**Also, I have a few due dates for school that I need to make this week. However I should be only be busy till about Thursday. I'm a bit behind on a few pairing fics, so I'll try and get started on those this week. Bare with me for a bit please :x**

**That's all from me. Until next time ~ **


	4. Printemps

**Disclaimer: Remember I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

[For reference, this chapter starts on a Monday night]

Hanayo looked from Kotori to Honoka again and again.

"Well?" Honoka asked.

"So, that was the secret? That's why you two have been so busy?" Hanayo asked.

There were a few sheets of paper Honoka had placed on the table. Scribbles and scratched out words were all over the papers. Hanayo held clean, finished copies that they handed her.

"So?" Kotori asked now. "What do you think Hanayo-chan? Will you join us?"

She looked at the papers more. She was definitely interested, but one thing was bugging her still.

"Why me? Out of the rest of Muse, why did you two pick me?"

Kotori and Honoka looked to each other and giggled. Kotori turned back to Hanayo. "Isn't it obvious? Your voice is lovely! And we thought you would fit perfectly."

"Y-you think so?" Hanayo wasn't quite convinced yet.

"Mhm!" Honoka said cheerfully. "You were the only person we thought would make this work."

Kotori nodded. "Yup. It won't be the same if we asked any of the other members. So? Will you do it?"

Hanayo kept looking between Kotori and Honoka. She still didn't believe she was the right choice, but her love of being an idol finally won her over.

"Alright. If you two are alright with me, then I'll be happy to join."

"Yay!"

Honoka cheered. She immediately wrapped Hanayo in a tight hug and tackled her to the ground. Honoka managed to move them as they fell so she would take more of the fall than Hanayo. Honoka, almost like a dog would, cuddled against Hanayo. Kotori giggled as she saw it happen, before joining in on the celebration. Hanayo was sandwiched between her two senpai, unable to break free. She gave up resisting and let them have their happy moment.

_'A mini-unit, huh?'_ she thought to herself. She smiled. _'Well, it does sound fun.'_

Finally Kotori had enough and got herself up. Honoka still was too happy to let go of Hanayo.

"Well then," Kotori began happily, "we'll start everything tomorrow."

"Start?" Hanayo asked, looking up to Kotori. "Already?"

"Of course! Make sure you pack up your school stuff as well as a lot of clothes. We'll be staying here for the week."

"Eh? W-why?"

"Hehe, Hanayo-chan," Honoka laughed, finally giving Hanayo some room. She helped Hanayo sit back up. "We have a lot to do if we're going to make this work. All we have are the lyrics. We'll need to make the music still, choreography, not to mention name the songs and our group."

"But, couldn't we have Maki-chan help us with the music?"

Honoka shook her head. "Well, they still don't know, do they? We're trying this on our own. At least this first time, we can't ask for help."

"Is there a reason we aren't going to tell them?" Hanayo asked curiously.

"Well, we want to give Maki-chan, Eri-chan, and Umi-chan a break, since they're the ones that have done the most work so far." Kotori said. "And, well.."

"We wanted to surprise everyone with this." Honoka finished. "Plus, if we pull this off, we can be a lot more helpful to Muse in the future. We won't just sit around waiting for the others to handle things. We'll be able to help."

Honoka yawned a little after. Hanayo noticed for the first time how tired Honoka looked. Kotori looked a little tired as well, but not as much as Honoka. Honoka tried to keep herself up, but in vein. She fell onto her floor, completely out. Kotori giggled a little, and she moved Honoka to her bed.

_'They really worked hard for this. They really want to be more helpful.'_ Hanayo thought as she watched. Suddenly, she felt determined. _'Well, if they're working this hard, I have to as well!'_

Kotori and Hanayo left Honoka's house to head home. Before they split ways, Kotori reminded Hanayo about tomorrow.

"So get what you need for the week. We'll start right after school tomorrow."

"Hai. I'll make sure to get permission from my parents." Hanayo replied.

Kotori was a bit surprised. She felt something different about Hanayo. "Hanayo-chan, you're quite determined, aren't you?"

"Well, I didn't realize what you two were doing or how hard you've been working until tonight. So I need to do my part, too. I can't bring us down."

Kotori smiled. "Honoka was right. You definitely are the right choice for this."

That comment caught Hanayo a bit off guard. "E-eheh. Well, I still need to prove myself to you two. I'll be in your care."

"Hey, we're all friends now. We've been because of Muse. You don't need to be formal like that anymore." Kotori said easily.

"Ah, right."

Finally the two of them wished each other goodnight and headed their separate ways to go home.

* * *

Hanayo convinced her parents to let her stay over at Honoka's for the week. They were quite surprised by her sudden determination that it didn't take much time. Hanayo met Kotori at the front gate after school. They waited for Honoka, who went to the clubroom to tell them that the three of them will be busy after school for the week. After a few minutes they saw the ginger-haired girl running up to meet them.

"I-I got the OK from them," she said, panting from running so much.

"Great! So, we'll stop by my house to get my stuff, then Hanayo-chan's. Sound good?"

The other two nodded, and they began walking the agreed route. They stopped by Kotori's house, then Hanayo's then finally made it to Honoka's. They reached Honoka's room, which had been rearranged to fit the three of them. The table was moved off to the side and blankets and pillows were ready on the floor. They put their stuff to the side, and all sat on the floor.

"So, what first?" Hanayo asked.

"Well," Honoka stopped to think. "How about we start with the music?"

"Do you have something in mind?" Kotori asked.

"Well, kind of. Although..."

"Although?" Kotori and Hanayo asked in unison.

"Do either of you know anything about the music programs Maki-chan usually uses?"

"Wait, didn't you?" Kotori asked a bit surprised. Honoka shook her head.

"Well, I watched Maki-chan work when I was at her house once. She was explaining a few things to me as she did it." Hanayo said.

"Do you remember what she said?" Kotori turned to Hanayo to ask.

"Somewhat. I'm no expert like Maki-chan, but I think I can do enough to get us along."

"Great!" Honoka said, relieved. "Then let's start with the music."

The three got to work on the computer. Honoka described her ideas for how each song should sound. Hanayo did what she could to create a basic rhythm to what Honoka had described. They worked late until they had a basic song finished that they could work with. Hanayo spent time before bed that night listening to songs online, and Honoka started reading instructions for the music program. Kotori was sketching ideas for their outfits.

The next day, Honoka and Hanayo combined what they got the night before and added to their basic song. As they got further and further, Honoka started to sing parts of the song, and Hanayo made adjustments and offered ideas to the music. Kotori struggled to get costume ideas she was happy with. They worked late into the night again making some final adjustments to the music.

The third day came. Umi and Maki noticed Honoka and Hanayo having a bit of trouble focusing during class. They didn't get a chance to check on them, however, as the three left for Honoka's house right as school ended. They hit a bit of trouble this day. They decided before they started rehearsing the song, they'd help Kotori finish with her costume ideas. They spent the day coming up with ideas and then throwing them away. Once more into the night, they continued their work. Honoka resorted to pulling up costumes online and trying to find ideas. Finally, Hanayo had an idea that they were all happy with. She suggested a shiny blue top with a bit of feathers on the straps and a pink fluffy skirt with white boots. The idea was unique enough that the three of them decided to give it a try.

The fourth day, and now Kotori struggled to keep herself focused during class. She convinced Umi they were fine before they left school. Kotori began working on the costumes, Hanayo began to come up with choreography, and Honoka listened to their finished music and started to work with the lyrics. It was a Friday, so they stayed up even later. By the time they couldn't continue, Kotori had finished one costume, Hanayo worked out the steps for half of one song, and Honoka had two of three parts finalized for one song.

The weekends were a blur. They had worked most of Saturday and straight through to Sunday, not even taking a break to sleep. Mid-day of Sunday, Honoka had finished with the lyrics and Kotori, after a little injury, finished the costumes for each of them. They worked into the night working out the choreography of the second song. They also added a few personal touches to the choreography and the costumes.

That night, they collapsed in Honoka's room.

"Almost... done..." Honoka breathed.

"Y-yeah... Now we.. have.. to perform it..." Hanayo barely managed to say.

Kotori tried to take a drink of water, but her body couldn't support her as she fell onto the floor. Somehow, she managed to place her drink on the table before completely collapsing.

"We... we have to... rest... school..." Kotori panted. They fell asleep where they lay that night.

* * *

Monday once again. Muse had agreed that each Monday was mandatory they met. So the three of them finally made an appearance in the clubroom once more. Their fellow Muses all gazed in surprise.

"Are... are you three alright?" Eri asked nervously. All she got were three nods.

"What happened? What have you been doing?" Maki nearly demanded.

"M- Maki-nyan, calm down a bit." Rin tried to keep herself calm as she said that.

"S-sorry." Maki's faced reddened as she thought over her reaction. "I'm just worried, is all."

"D-don't worry..." Kotori said weakly.

"How can we not worry?! Look at you three!" Umi couldn't keep control. The worry for her friends had already taken over.

Nozomi noticed and sat Umi back down. "Umi-chan, there there." She said gently, massaging Umi to try and relieve some of her built-up tension.

"We'll... we'll get through this..." Honoka said slowly. The three of them got up slowly.

"H-hey! Don't push yourselves so hard!" Nico said worriedly.

"We'll... we'll be alright." Hanayo said firmly. "It'll all be alright."

"Two.. two days." Honoka said. "Two days.. meet in the theatre.. please."

The other six looked around nervously, but they nodded their understanding. Satisfied, the three of them made their way out of the room.

Once they were gone, Nozomi spoke slowly.

"I hope they'll be alright.."

They all nodded in agreement.

* * *

That day, the three of them just went to Honoka's room and fell asleep. Finally giving themselves an actual rest. The next day after school, they rehearsed the two songs over and over again. They sat down as night fell, knowing they need to get enough rest for tomorrow.

"So, there's one thing we still haven't done." Honoka said. The other two looked at her. "We still haven't named our group."

"Right..." Kotori said, realizing they had forgotten about that detail.

The three of them sat around for a few minutes, trying to come up with names, with not much luck.

"Hey, how about _'Printemps'_? Hanayo suggested. Kotori and Honoka looked at each other, then back to Hanayo.

"Why do you say that, Hanayo-chan?" Kotori asked. "Any special reason?"

"Well.. Not really. It just sounded nice and simple." Hanayo admitted.

"Well, I think we can use it," Honoka said.

Kotori nodded. "Well, if this works, we can stick with '_Printemps'_."

With that decided, the three of them went to sleep. Though, later than they had planned.

* * *

Afterschool came the next day, and the other six members of Muse had met in the theatre like they were asked. It was empty except for the six of them. After a few minutes, the three remaining members walked from the side entrance of the stage, dressed in their costumes. The stage was already preset by the AV Club for them. Honoka spoke into her mic.

"Thanks everyone for coming. This idea is what Kotori-chan and I worked on since the web radio announcement."

"We decided on a lot of things before we started. And with Hanayo-chan joining us, we worked really hard, for you all." Kotori said.

"We did all this, because, we didn't want to sit around while you all did a lot of the work. Kotori-chan helps with the costumes, sure, but we wanted more." Hanayo said.

"We want to be more helpful. And we want to take a lot of the stress of you all. Especially Umi-chan and Eri-chan who do the choreography. Maki-chan for doing all the lyrics and music herself. And Nico-chan for doing most of the costume ideas and designing." Kotori concluded.

"We hope this will show that we can help, too. We want to be even more useful to you all, but only if you all approve of this." Hanayo added.

Honoka nodded. Kotori and Hanayo took their positions.

"So please," Honoka began. "Please listen to this first song by Printemps. _'Sweet&sweet Holiday'_."

The song began. They decided on the more upbeat song first to settle their nerves. As they went through the song their worries started to fade. The first song finished.

"Now, here's the main song. _'Love Marginal'_." Honoka introduced.

They went almost directly into the next song. Immediately the atmosphere of the room changed as the choreography began to unfold. Kotori began.

(* brackets show who is singing the lines. Bold is the original lyrics. Italics is English translation.)

[Kotori]  
_**Saki ni noru ne to hohoenda densha no nakade wa  
**__**Kuchibiru sukoshi furuete iru no  
**__**Setsunaku hashiru omoi**_

_(Inside the train I boarded earlier and smiled  
My lips quiver slightly  
And feelings painfully run through my head)_

[Honoka]  
_**Kimochi dake demo tsutaetai  
**__**Sore ga dekirunara**_

[Hanayo]  
_**Garasu ni yubi de namae o hitotsu  
**__**Toiki de kai tari shinai**_

_(They are just feelings but I want to tell you  
If I could do that  
I wouldn't sigh and do things like write  
That single name on the glass with my finger)  
_

[All]_  
__**Aoku tomeina watashi ni naritai  
Tomodachi no mama de anata no mae de **_

[Honoka] / [Hanayo]_**  
Kakushi kirenai / mune no tokimeki **_

[Kotori]_**  
Darenimo kidzuka retakunai yo **_

[All]_**  
Kokoro tomeina watashi o kaeshite  
Tomodachinanoni anata ga sukidato  
**_  
[Kotori] / [Hanayo]  
_**Kakushi kirenai / wasurerarenai**_

[All]_**  
Himitsu kakaete mado ni mota reta **_

_(I want to be clear blue  
Staying friends in front of you  
I can't hide the throbbing in my chest anymore  
I don't want anyone to notice  
Restore my heart and the clear me  
We're friends but I love you  
I can't hide it anymore, I can't forget about it  
I maintained my secrets and I leaned against the window)_

They moved through the bridge. As it ended, Hanayo stepped a bit forward in the center. The bridge ended, Hanayo's face in front of everyone was full of emotion as the girls fell more and more into the mood._  
_

[Hanayo]_  
__**Nagareru keshiki kawaru koto hitosuji no namida  
Akubi no furi de gomakashite miru  
Uwamuite soto o nagame **_

_(As the scenery streaming by changes tears trickle down  
Pretending to yawn I try to gloss over it  
I look up and gaze outside)__**  
**_

[Honoka]_**  
Soba ni irukara tsuraku naru  
Yasashi sugiru no to **_

[Kotori]_**  
Ano ko ga hanasu anata no kuse o  
Shitteru koto ga tsurai  
**__  
(You're near so it becomes heartbreaking  
Being too nice  
Regularly talking to that girl  
Knowing that is heartbreaking)_

Kotori, with her hands to her chest as part of the moves, also showcased an emotional expression. They moved into their next positions. They spun once and fluidly moved into the next part.

[All]_**  
Itsuka musuba reru yume o mitaku naru  
Koibito-tachi wa hikiau monodato **_

[Hanayo] / [Kotori]_**  
Kattena negai / kurushi nozomi **_

[Honoka]_**  
Darenimo kidzuka retakunai no **_

[All]_**  
Kokoro musuba reru yume ga mitakatta  
Koibito-tachi no shiawase-te ni suru **_

[Kotori] / [Hanayo]_**  
Kattena negai / gomen ne kitto **_

[All]_**  
Watashi dake no hisokana rabu marginal**_

_(Someday I want to dream about being tied together  
Lovers are drawn to one another  
Selfish desires are painful wishes  
I don't want anyone to notice  
I wanted to dream about our hearts being tied together  
I'll obtain in my hands the happiness that comes as lovers  
Selfish desires, Surely I'm sorry  
It's a secret marginal Love known only to me)_

The first few moves were the same, but it quickly broke off into another direction. Honoka and Kotori reached up, looked at their empty hands. They turned, once again reached up and pulled down nothing. With pained looks crossed stage of each other. Hanayo had moved forward, reached up, froze, and slowly brought her head down. She turned and slowly began walking back. Honoka, with one hand to her chest, began.

[Honoka]_**  
Saisho deatta ano hi ga ima mo kienai **_

[Kotori]_**  
Doushite kioku no naka de kagayai teru no? **_

_(The day we first met won't vanish even now  
Why does it continue to sparkle within my memories?)__**  
**_

_'Daisuki'_ was softly spoken by Honoka and Kotori. They had turned to reach a hand out toward the audience before pulling back. Hanayo put her hands together as she started.

[Hanayo]_**  
Aoku tomeina watashi ni naritai  
Tomodachi no mama de anata no mae de**_

[Kotori] / [Honoka]  
_**Kakushi kirenai / mune no tokimeki**_

[All]_**  
Darenimo kidzuka retakunai yo  
Kokoro tomeina watashi o kaeshite  
Tomodachinanoni anata ga sukidato **_

[Honoka] / [Kotori]_**  
Kakushi kirenai / wasurerarenai **_

[All]_**  
Himitsu kakaete mado ni mota reta**_

_(I want to be clear blue  
Staying friends in front of you  
I can't hide the throbbing in my chest anymore  
I don't want anyone to notice  
Restore my heart and the clear me  
We're friends but I love you  
I can't hide it anymore, I can't forget about it  
I maintained my secrets and I leaned against the window)_

Hanayo had teased a smile during the last line, which had faded again. They continued the dance as the last of the song played. They ended away from each other, hands to their chest as they looked either up or down. The song ended.

For an empty theatre, it seemed like the six girls clapping was from a packed audience, at least to the three girls on stage. A smile touched each of their faces as they fell to their knees.

"Honoka-chan/Kotori-chan/Hanayo-chan!"

They heard their names shouted at the same time, and a few hurried footsteps as the rest of Muse rushed onto the stage and to each of their sides. They each two people tightly embracing them.

"So...how... was it?" Honoka said slowly. Her eyes were unable to focus.

"How was it? It was incredible, Honoka-chan." She heard Eri's voice near her ear.

"Of course we liked it, baka," came Nico's voice from Honoka's other side.

"It was amazing," Rin said nearby Hanayo.

"Bakas.. Don't push yourself so hard next time.." came Maki's voice from Hanayo's other side.

"Yeah.. Don't make us worry this much," Umi said by Kotori.

"When that's all said though, you three definitely proved yourselves. Not that you needed to prove anything to us." came Nozomi's voice from Kotori's other side.

While they couldn't see each other, the three Printemps members felt a wave of relief hit each of them. They finally let themselves completely rest, in the arms of their embracers.

Later in the day, they finally left the school. Kotori, Honoka, and Hanayo were essentially forbidden to move from where they were on stage, as the rest of Muse took care of them. After some point they realized they had to leave school, which was the only reason they got up.

The day after the performance, Muse decided on publishing the songs. The single, _'Love Marginal'_, which contained both songs, was under 'Printemps,' citing it as_ 'a mini-unit made of three Muse members_.' The single was successful, and Muse's popularity rose even more. But for Honoka, Hanayo, and Kotori, the real success was the in the effort they put in, and the warm reception the rest of Muse gave them for it.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here! Well? What'd you think?! I completely got none of my school work done today for this... I hope you're happy! X3**

**So, the outfits as well as the parts of the choreography I attempted to incorporate are from the Love Lives themselves! Specifically, the 2013 New Years Live, as I managed to find that one online.**

**On that note, I didn't even originally have the choreography and lyrics as part of the chapter planning. As I neared the end I thought it might be cool if I included it. I didn't do it with both songs, as I felt all of the emotion as well as the defining moments would come from Love Marginal. I hope reading it wasn't too confusing. I hope it wasn't too much, either.**

**Yes, I'll also have the other two units added in as well. Maybe not quite as emotion-filled as this was... X3**

**So to those who expected romance this chapter... I'M SORRY! We're not quite there yet. We'll get there soon, though! I've finally decided who I think should end up with who ;) But we're in for a few more chapters before our girls' hearts start going crazy X3**

**Well, that's it from me, until next chapter~**


	5. Intermission: Shopping

**Chapter 5 & 6 are released together! Quick note at the end of this chapter though.**

**Disclaimer: remember I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

Kotori exited one of the maid cafes of Akihabara, bowing and saying her goodbyes as she left. With Muse, and the recent formation of Printemps, it amazed her co-workers that she still managed to find free time in order to work shifts at the cafe. To be working with someone who was both the famous maid Minalinsky of Akihabara, as well as a member of the rising group Muse, was a crazy thought. Still, Kotori treated them the same as she always had, and she asked they did the same.

Kotori now walked down the streets of Akihabara, finally with some time to herself. No fabrics for costumes, no accessories to compare, just some time to herself.

"You seem quite pleased, Kotori-chan."

Well, almost to herself. After all, with the kind of work she, Honoka, and Hanayo put themselves through with Printemps still fresh in the other Muse's minds, there was no way they were leaving them to their own devices until they had rested enough. Today, Nozomi managed to find time to escort Kotori around Akihabara. After enough begging from Kotori, Nozomi decided to let Kotori work for a little at the cafe, and they agreed to keep it between them.

"Hehe, well it's been a while since I've been able to shop around here for myself. I'm quite excited," Kotori said happily.

"Well it's good that you're excited," Nozomi said, smiling at the expression Kotori made. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves alright? You still need to take it easy."

"Hai.. But that's why you're here right? You'll take care of me if anything happens right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can be careless. At least try and help me out here."

Kotori tried to imitate Honoka pouting, to which Nozomi couldn't help but laugh. They began walking in and out of stores. Eventually, they found their way into one of the big clothing stores.

"Wahh, look at everything Nozomi-chan!"

Kotori looked around in awe. She flet like she was in a new world. All the lovely dresses, all the cute skirts and tops. She almost couldn't believe it.

"Come on, Nozomi-chan! We have to try some on!"

Kotori quickly tried to take a step, but her muscles were still sore from the last two weeks. Nozomi had guessed this would happened, and quickly moved to catch Kotori before she could fall.

"Didn't we just go over how you need to take it easy? My, it's like you're Honoka-chan right now."

"Eheh, sorry Nozomi-chan. I'll be careful."

Nozomi made sure Kotori was alright before letting go. This time Kotori began walking to a few of the clothes racks. She pulled off a few outfits here and there, and Nozomi held onto them. They made their way to one of the changing rooms. Nozomi placed the clothes in one of the big changing rooms for Kotori and stepped out to let her change. She looked around her while she waited, admiring the store. It's quite a step up from anything nearby their houses.

A few more minutes passed, and Nozomi started to wonder if Kotori was alright. Kotori soon stepped out of the room to show Nozomi. She was amazed at the sight. Kotori came out in first in a dress, with the design of the sky and clouds, so detailed that it almost looked like the real thing. A black ribbon was tied around Kotori's neck, and another blue ribbon held up part of her hair.

"Well?" she asked after a few moments.

"Incredible," Nozomi simply said. "I guess that's why it took you a little while to get together."

"Actually, it's because my body is still sore. It's a lot harder to change when your muscles hurt," Kotori laughed a little. She turned back to the changing room to try on another outfit.

"Wait," Nozomi called, and Kotori stopped. Nozomi came up beside her. "Here, how about I help? Make it easier so you won't have to move as much."

"Thanks, Nozomi-chan. That would be a big help."

Nozomi helped Kotori back into the changing room. There was a lot of space even for the two of them. Nozomi helped Kotori get out of the first dress and they started going through the rest of the outfits. She tried a teal shirt with a peach jacket and skirt and a teal hair ribbon; a black collared shirt, skirt, and gloves with a grey vest, and two red ribbons for her collar and hair; a simple white blouse over a magenta collared shirt, black pants, and a violet coat; and lastly a light pink sweater and teal skirt. Nozomi stepped back as she finished dressing Kotori and looked amused.

"What? I need some new clothes for when we practice."

"But, a skirt?"

"... It was cute."

They both laughed, and Nozomi helped Kotori out of the outfit and back into her regular clothes. She then turned to the remaining outfits. As she grabbed one, she noticed the sizes were slightly different than the first set Kotori tried on.

"Kotori-chan, why are these different sizes than before?"

"Oh, those aren't for me to try on. They're for you!"

Nozomi turned to look at Kotori in surprise. "Me?"

"Yup! You need to try some on, too!"

"Eh? But.."

"Please?" Kotori gave a pleading look.

Nozomi sighed. "Alright, alright."

Kotori clapped her hands together in delight. Nozomi began trying on the outfits Kotori had picked out for her. She tried on a purple shirt with the word 'Love,' a cream skirt with flowers decorated on it, and a blue jacket; a violet dress and a yellow shirt to go over it; a sparkly purple dress with black gloves and leggings, and a yellow hairclip with grapes on it; and a simple black dress with a few sparkles, black leggings, dark gloves with an intricate design, and a black hairpiece with a red rose.

"Ah, wonderful!" Kotori said at the last outfit.

They finally finished at the store. They left and went back into the pattern of going in and out of various stores. They stopped in one store that had mainly accessories. Kotori picked up a green ribbon with a single black stripe across the center, and tied it into her hair.

"Hey, Nozomi-chan. What do you think?"

"Hmm, I think that suites you quiet well."

"You think so? Hehe, thanks. You know I think Rin-chan could fit this too."

"Rin-chan? Why do you say that?"

Kotori stopped to think. "I'm... not quite sure actually. Her eyes maybe? I just thought it would fit her."

"Well, guess we'll never know."

Kotori put down the ribbon, and found an identical magenta-colored one. She picked it up and tied it onto Nozomi's wrist. She stepped back as she finished.

"Yup! That could fit you Nozomi-chan."

"Eh? You think so? I always saw myself matching purple."

"Yeah, but that can fit nicely with purple."

Nozomi thought about it for a moment. "I suppose. But that's why you're the costume expert and not me, right? You're better at seeing these things."

"Eheh, I suppose."

Nozomi took off the ribbon and put it down. As she turned back to Kotori, she noticed Kotori was staring out the store window. She followed her gaze and landed on a big sign.

"Valentine's Day. Right, that's coming up soon."

Kotori nodded. "Yeah.. " She turned back to look around the store. There were various things she could use for costumes if they needed it from here. Something caught her eye. It was a white headpiece, but it seemed to be ruffled somewhat. The way it looked, though, reminded Kotori of something. She kept staring until Nozomi once again noticed her.

"Kotori-chan?" No response. "Kotori-chan?"

"That's it!"

Kotori's sudden excitement caught Nozomi off-guard. "What's it?"

"Valentine's Day! Maids! We can do a single for Valentine's Day and dress everyone as maids!"

Nozomi continued to look at Kotori as she thought about the idea.

"That... That's it! You're right we could! There's still plenty of time to have it ready by then. We need to tell the others tomorrow!"

They were suddenly quite excited. So excited, they forgot they didn't have to wait until school the following day to tell everyone their idea. They left Akihabara suddenly full of energy, until Kotori's body reminded them that she still should be taking it easy.

* * *

**Quick note:  
As you can see, PV4 is next, not PV3. The reason is because I messed up a little with my planning. PV3, which is for summer, happens later in the year than PV4, which is for Valentine's Day. Because this story is happening over the course of one school year, I'm making PV4 happen before PV3. I hope that's ok with everyone.**

**Also, once again shout-outs to fanart for the lovely outfits I try to describe in my stories :3**

**Alright, onward to the next chapter!**


	6. Mogyutto Love de Sekkinchuu!

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

Monday finally came and they went through school as normal. The members of Printemps were recovering well from their efforts. Honoka in particular was starting to move around again without much trouble, which kept her spirits high. She spent most of her weekend being kept from doing much by Eri and Umi. Kotori and Hanayo, while it still bothered them a bit more, were also showing signs of getting better.

Finally classes ended and they got to meet in the clubroom. Both Kotori and Nozomi couldn't keep their excitement in, and their faces were showing it. They've been particularly happy since they entered the clubroom.

"Alright, so, what are you guys so worked up about?" Umi finally asked after Nozomi and Kotori glanced at each other with smiles again.

"Well, we just have this idea for our next single," Kotori said cheerfully.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Eri asked curiously.

"Oh come now, you should be able to guess. It's coming up soon, after all," Nozomi said playfully.

"Coming up soon..." Hanayo echoed, as she started to think.

The room went quiet as everyone tried to figure it out. Eventually, Rin realized it. She stood up in excitement.

"Wait, you mean Valentine's Day!"

Suddenly realization dawned on the other girls. They all turned to Kotori and Nozomi who nodded.

"Yup!" Kotori said happily. "We were at this store in Akihabara trying on-"

"Wait," Eri interrupted. "You were in Akihabara? You were supposed to rest over the weekend."

"Calm down, Eri-chi," Nozomi said easily. "I made sure she didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to."

"Yeah, but still.."

"Ehh, how come I didn't get to come?" Honoka asked childishly.

"It was probably for the better that you didn't go. We all know how that would've turned out," Nico said jokingly.

"Ahh that's mean, Nico-chan," Honoka began to pout. The other girls laughed at this little exchange before Kotori began again.

"Well, like I was saying. We were at Akihabara and we stopped in this one story that had a lot of accessories. There were a lot of things that would look good for costumes. And then we saw a sign about Valentine's Day, so we got the idea. We could do a Valentine's Day song and dress as maids for the video!"

"M-maids?" Umi repeated, her face turning red at the thought.

"Mhm," Nozomi said with a smile. "We would all get to be cute little maids, like for Wonderzone."

"Ah that sounds fun!" Rin said, getting excited.

"Will we have different outfits this time?" Hanayo asked.

"Of course!" Nico said, starting to like the idea. "It would be a lot better that way!"

The girls started to talk excitedly about song ideas. Eventually Maki stood up. "Alright then, I'll get to work on the music. Did anyone have suggestions?"

"I've been thinking of some. Can I come over and show you after?" Kotori asked.

"Ah, sure, that'd be a great help."

"What about the costumes?" Nico asked Kotori.

"I have ideas down, but I need a little bit of time to decide a few things. I can have it ready tomorrow to show you," she replied. Nico nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"How about we start planning for the video until the song is done?" Honoka suggested.

"Alright, we should head to my house then to start." Kotori nodded and stood up. Maki helped her and they made their way out.

"Will you all be alright to do this?" Rin asked.

"We'll be fine, don't worry Rin-chan!" Honoka said happily

"Yeah. We definitely will be better in time for this," Hanayo said confidently.

"Just be careful until you're both better," Eri suggested.

"If we know anything, it's that determination does wonders for us," Nozomi said.

"Especially Honoka-chan," Umi added.

"Yeah. It's like that's all she needs," Nico said jokingly.

Honoka scratched the back of her head and giggled, a little embarrassed. Everyone laughed. Eventually they got to discussing video ideas.

"Should we have a story to this one as well?" Hanayo asked.

"If it is, can it not be only about me?" Honoka asked. "it would be better if everyone was included."

"Aww, but Honoka-chan makes a lovely star," Nozomi said playfully.

"Honoka-chan's right though, we should have some variety for our videos." Eri said.

"So we should all be in it more this time?" Umi asked.

"Why not? I think it'd be fun." Rin said.

"Since it's Valentine's Day, we don't have to have a story for the video. And we could all be in it this way," Nico suggested.

"Hey, the school prepares for Valentine's Day early right?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah, why?" Eri responded.

"How about we film us around the school during those days, and use some of that for the video?"

"That could work. We don't need a story so we can just film how we normally act." Umi said, thinking it over.

"Well, since it is Valentine's Day, we should at least be giving other people chocolates. So let's film that part too." Nozomi suggested.

"Do we all have to?" asked Nico.

"Of course Nico-chi! All of Muse needs to for the video."

"Does it have to be someone in particular?"

Nozomi thought about it. "Nah, it doesn't have to be. But we do all have to give someone chocolates and get it on film."

"That's fine with me," Hanayo said. Everyone else agreed.

"Alright, we'll let Kotori-chan and Maki-chan know when we can, then." Eri said.

As it started to get late, the girls got their stuff and left school.

* * *

"Ah.. that feels nice.." Kotori felt as if she was in heaven. "A little more. Please, Maki-chan."

"Fine. If that's what you want."

"Ahh...that's amazing Maki-chan."

"You're lucky no one is home right now."

"Why?"

"You realize how you sound right now?"

"Eheheh."

Maki pressed one more time before she sat back. Kotori got up and stretched.

"Still, I can't believe you know how to give massages. Even if your family is full of doctors, that's not something they would know either."

"I suppose. I figured it would be helpful to know for what we do, though."

"Ah, my body never felt better."

"Really, you're purposely wording things like that aren't you?"

"Eh? What could Maki-chan possibly mean?" Kotori's eyes were alight with mischief.

"Never mind. Shall we get started with the song?" Maki avoided the obvious questioning.

"Eheh, alright," Kotori didn't pursue. Maki just did her a huge favor with that massage. She wasn't about to mess anything up. "Say, if you knew how to do this, why did you wait until now?"

"Eh? Oh, I kind of forgot about it."

"Forgot?"

"Well, yeah. Everything you three did was kind of sudden. We were pretty worried you know."

"Aww, Maki-chan was really worried for us, huh?" Kotori teased just a little more.

"W-well, of course I was," Maki turned away. "We are all friends, right?"

Kotori smiled. "Thanks, Maki-chan."

"Don't mention it," Maki managed to regain her composure.

They made their way to Maki's room, where most of her music equipment was. Kotori walked in, seeing that Maki had quite an extravagant room. Then again, Maki practically lived in a mansion. By that perspective, Kotori thought, she was surprised Maki's room wasn't even more decorated. They sat at Maki's desk with her computer.

"Alright," Maki said, pulling out a notebook, "let's start with the lyrics. What did you have in mind?"

Kotori and Maki began working through the lyrics. They outlined Kotori's basic ideas for the lyrics. A fairly simple love song in the form of a conversation with someone. Maki decided on keeping the lyrics simple, but also light-hearted for Valentine's Day. They worked out the parts and how the harmonies would go. Maki did little adjusting, as Kotori had thought through most of this already. After the lyrics were set, Kotori explained her ideas about the music itself. Kotori thought she would just be giving general ideas, but Maki had her also help with the music. They got through most of the music as it started to get dark outside.

"I think that'll do for today," Kotori said as she looked outside.

"You're probably right," Maki agreed. "Well there's not much left. I'll finish adding the little details for the music tonight so it's ready for tomorrow. Good work today."

"Thanks." Kotori stood up and stretched. She no longer felt the pain from before. How Maki managed that was quite the mystery. "You too, thanks for your hard work."

"You alright to head home now?"

"Yup! That massage was definitely what I needed."

Maki smiled. They walked to the front together before saying their goodbyes.

* * *

The next day went by. Maki handed out the music and recordings once everyone gathered in the clubroom and everyone got to work. Honoka joined Umi and Eri on the rooftop to help with choreography. Nozomi joined Kotori and Nico with the costumes. The first-year trio went to the music room to work on the vocals.

They continued their work the next three days. Hanayo and Honoka switched every so often to help with choreography or practice the vocal parts. On the second day, Nico and Kotori already started working on the costumes, and Nozomi went to the music room to practice. By this second day, Nico and Kotori had their costumes finished and part of Nozomi's. Umi and Eri had worked out all the synchronized parts. Rin had completely learned her part. Hanayo and Honoka were close to finished with vocals. By the third day, Hanayo and Honoka had mostly recovered as well as mastered their parts, and took a bigger role in helping Umi and Eri with the choreography as they worked on individual parts. Maki and Nozomi practiced in the clubroom for a bit so that Kotori and Nico could get their input on each of their costumes. By the end of this day, Nozomi had most of her part down, Rin, Maki, and Nozomi's costumes were done and Honoka's was started, and most of the choreography was finished.

Friday came, and the finishing touches of the preparation period were being made. Honoka, Rin, Hanayo, and Nozomi practiced the choreography the entire time. Eri and Umi stayed in the clubroom for their costume input. Nico and Kotori finished the rest of the costumes, and the four of them had Maki start them on the vocals. They worked later into the day so that everyone knew their vocal parts.

"Alright," Eri said as they gathered for the day, "practice over the weekend. Monday we'll teach the choreography to Nico-chan, Maki-chan, and Kotori-chan, and hopefully be able to put it together within a day or two of that."

"And you three," Umi said to Honoka, Kotori, and Hanayo, "one more weekend of rest, just to be safe. We don't need the pains to come back for you three."

"Hai," the three said in unison.

With a brief closing to the meeting, and an energetic send-off from Honoka, Muse left for the day.

The following Monday, the school started decorating and preparing for Valentine's Day. With Honoka and Hanayo feeling better, Muse got straight to work. The next two days were bringing the vocals together as well as getting the choreography down. By Wednesday, they did their recording runs of the song until they were satisfied. Thursday, with the non-dancing part of the video left, the girls with a few cameras went around the school. They helped out with decorations with their respective classes and filmed.

Friday was the day before Valentine's Day. Classes were shortened, and Muse went around filming as they handed out chocolates. They were given a few in return, some anonymously through their lockers. Eri in particular had a flood of chocolate boxes fall out of her locker, though not that surprising to any of them. Toward the end of the afternoon, they gathered back in the clubroom and finished their music video.

Saturday was Valentine's Day. Maki finished the editing and published the video in the morning. Honoka called the other girls and suggested they spent Valentine's Day together. No one could refuse Honoka when she was this happy. They went to Akihabara and went around the area. Later in the day, they left to their houses to change into their new outfits and met back up at Honoka's house.

"I'm glad I got to form Muse with Kotori-chan and Umi-chan, and I'm glad that you all joined us. I love you all!" Honoka decided to say what she was feeling.

'Love' was an interesting word to use, given the day, but they all knew what Honoka meant.

"Let's continue our success together, and make lots of memories!"

Cheers went around the room, and Muse along with Arisa and Honoka's family celebrated Valentine's Day and Muse's new single.

* * *

**Hey guys! nobodD here again. Hope you guys liked these last two chapters.**

**Man, µ's has been busy lately, haven't they? Web radio, Printemps, and another single. All nearly back to back. These girls work so hard. Especially our Printemps girls, contributing even more now. Their hard work paid off :3**

**Speaking of the mini-units, BiBi and Lily White shall soon make their appearances! Maybe not drama-filled as Printemps debut was, but they shall soon be formed.**

**Alright that's it from me, until next time ~**


	7. Intermission: Forming

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

Muse, for the first time in a while, took a break. After Valentine's Day, no new projects came up. The rest of February went by quietly. The girls enjoyed some well deserved rest. All except Honoka, who couldn't really keep still in the clubroom like the others. She and Rin were in and out of the clubroom, taking walks to random places just to amuse themselves.

March came, and Muse had their regular Monday meeting, or tried to. A few minutes in, with nothing left to discuss, they just sat around the clubroom. Hanayo was on the computer, and something she read made her giggle a bit.

"Eh? Hanayo-chan's going crazy," Honoka said. She was laying on the table, not actually looking.

"Honoka-chan, come here, you'll like this," Hanayo said. She giggled again.

"But, you're all the way over there," Honoka replied lazily.

"How about I help with that then, Honoka-chan," came Nozomi's voice.

Honoka immediately got up. "Ok, ok, I'm up." Nozomi laughed a little as Honoka made her way to Hanayo's side.

Honoka saw that Hanayo was on Muse's web page. She was looking at the comments page for Love Marginal. "Read this," Hanayo said, pointing to one of the comments.

Honoka got a bit closer to read what Hanayo was pointing at. Then Honoka laughed as well.

"Someone said that?" she said after she finished her little laughing moment.

"Yeah. Look, there's a whole bunch like that one."

The two of them started scrolling through the pages, reading comments. Occasionally they would laugh and make some silly comment about it. Umi looked over in amusement.

"And she was just calling Hanayo-chan crazy a moment ago," she said.

"Well, it's better for her than laying around being bored," Eri said. She also found the occasional laughter from Hanayo and Honoka amusing.

"Hanayo-chan you have so many fans. Look at all these comments!" came Honoka's voice.

"You say that but we just passed so many for you, Honoka-chan," Hanayo replied. They laughed some more.

"Ah, but we're nowhere close to Kotori-chan."

"Ahah, you're right. There's so many."

At the mention of her name, Kotori took her eyes of the magazine she was browsing. "Hm?"

"They're looking at comments for Love Marginal," Maki said, flipping a page of her book.

"Oh? What have they seen?"

"Not quite sure, but they've been laughing a whole bunch," Nico said. She too was looking through a magazine.

"Ah, Kotori-chan's fans are so sweet." Hanayo's voice came again.

Kotori closed her magazine and went to join Honoka and Hanayo at the computer. She started reading what they've been looking at.

"Wha?! That's embarrassing for someone to say about me," Kotori said.

"Aww why? I completely agree with them," Honoka hugged Kotori, laughing with Hanayo.

"Do they all say things like that?"

"No, just some," Hanayo said. "You should have seen some of the stuff they've said about Honoka-chan."

"Hanayo-chan shh," Honoka said playfully.

The three of them continued to read through comments. Occasionally the three of them would laugh at the comments.

A thought popped into Eri's mind. "Say, since we aren't really working on anything, why don't we try what they did?"

"What they did?" Rin echoed, confused.

The three of them laughed again. They were so wrapped in the comments they weren't paying attention.

"You mean, the mini-unit?" Maki asked.

"Yeah. It can't hurt to try. And honestly, I've been kind of wanting to ever since they did."

"Eh? Really? Why's that?" Umi asked curiously.

"Ah, well..." Eri didn't really want to say. Nozomi noticed Eri's hesitation.

"Well, it does sound fun. And it doesn't seem fair that they are the only ones," Nozomi said.

"The only ones to what?" Honoka asked as the three of them came to the table. They stopped reading the comments since they were starting to be repeated too much.

"Your mini-unit," Nico said as they sat down.

"Does that mean you all might form one as well?!" Honoka asked excitedly.

"Do you need to form another for something?" Kotori asked.

"Well, no. You three didn't really need to either, but it still happened." Eri said. The three of them laughed a little, giving apologetic looks. "I just thought we could try it as well. It could be helpful."

"There's no harm in trying," Umi agreed.

"If you do decide to, can we help?" Hanayo asked.

"That would be nice, as long as we don't have to overwork ourselves like you three did," Nozomi said jokingly.

"Well, we don't need to do it. But, there's no harm in it either," Maki said. "I think we might as well try it."

"Then the next question would be, how do we want to do it?" Umi asked. "Two more units of three?"

"Wouldn't it be easier that way?" Nico said.

"But then, how would we decide who goes to which unit?" Rin asked.

"Why don't we pick who will be the center for one of the units," Nozomi suggested. "Then they can pick two of us and the other three will make the last unit."

"If you do that, then Eri-chan should be the center," Honoka said.

"Eh? Why me?" Eri asked, surprised.

"Why? Well, you're like the leader of Muse already. You always keep us organized and on track. It would make sense if you were the center of a mini-unit."

"That's coming from Muse's actual leader and center," Nozomi said. The other girls nodded in agreement.

Eri blushed a little in embarrassment from the compliment. "D-do I have to decide now?"

"You can think about it if you need to," Umi said.

"T-thanks."

Eri gave it some thought while the rest of Muse went back to what they had been doing for most of the day. Honoka and Kotori fell asleep on the couch at one point. Eventually, Eri made up her mind.

"So, I'll take Maki-chan and Nico-chan." she told the six girls still awake.

"Eh? Why us?" Maki asked.

"I figured there's a good balance between the three of us. And Nozomi, Rin, and Umi are balanced between the three of them. So it works out for everyone."

"I suppose that makes sense.." Maki turned away.

"That's just like you to think of everyone and not just yourself," Nozomi pointed out.

"Reminds me of someone else we all know," Nico said. They all knew who she meant, and turned to look at one of the two sleeping figures.

"Well, is that alright with everyone?" Eri asked.

"I'm fine with it," Umi said.

"Same here," Rin added.

"No complaints here," Nozomi said.

"Works for me," Nico said.

"Fine with me, too," Maki finished.

"Alright then," Eri said. "How about we each come up with a song to perform for Honoka, Hanayo, and Kotori?"

"Why us specifically?" Hanayo asked.

"Well, since you three as Printemps did the performance for us, we should return the favor. And you three can also tell us if you think the units will work out, since you three are the experienced ones in this."

"Ah, alright."

"Wh..what's happening?" came a sleepy voice. The other's turned to see that Kotori had just woken up.

"They came up with the other two units, and they're going to work on a song and perform for us," Hanayo explained.

"Ah, alright. When is it?" Kotori asked.

"How about we work for two weeks and see that the progress is?" Eri suggested.

"Alright. That should be enough time." Nozomi said, thinking it over.

"You all should pick a place to stay while you work things out." Hanayo said.

"Like, sleep over?" Rin asked.

"Mhm. We stayed at Honoka-chan's house every day, and it made working together much easier."

"That's a good idea," Eri said. She turned to Nico and Maki, "would my house work for you two?"

"Fine by me," Nico said. Maki just nodded.

"What about for us?" Rin asked Nozomi and Umi.

"Well..." Nozomi began.

"We can use my house," Umi said. "If that's alright with both of you."

Both Rin and Nozomi nodded. A sound came from somewhere in the room.

"Uwa... Kotori-chan... let me sleep more..." came Honoka's sleepy voice.

"Honoka-chan, you're still at school you know.."

"Here, I can help," Nozomi said. But before she moved, Hanayo went ahead of her.

"Honoka-chan, you better get up," Hanayo said sweetly.

"Eh.. why?" Honoka still didn't move.

"Because I can do this!" Hanayo ran a finger down Honoka's back. Honoka's had moved immediately.

"Ah! Hey wha-" she said in confusion. Hanayo moved closer to where Honoka had retreated to and tickled Honoka on her sides.

"Ah, Ha- Hanayo-chan, st- stop" she managed to say through her laughter.

Hanayo continued for a little longer before she finally stopped. "Well, are you awake now?"

Honoka held her sides as she was finally able to calm down. "I thought you weren't going to do that anymore."

"Well you weren't waking up and I didn't want to leave you to sleep in school."

"You could've done something else, though."

"Eheh, I'm sorry Honoka-chan. Promise I won't do it again without a real reason."

The rest of Muse had watched the scene take place. Everyone was silent as it happened, unsure of what to do or say. Honoka noticed everyone else looking. Hanayo turned to see everyone as well.

"There are also a few other advantages to staying over for a while," she said with a grin.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Simple chapter to set up the other two units. Like I mentioned, nothing fancy like what Printemps went through. Next two chapters will be each unit working on their song, and I'll release those two together like I did for PV4.**

**Alright, enough from me, until next time~**


	8. BiBi

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

[For reference, this chapter starts on a Tuesday]

After school the next day, the girls met in the clubroom before separating into three groups. Eri, Nico, and Maki headed for Eri's house. Umi, Nozomi, and Rin headed to Umi's house. Printemps decided on spending a few nights together so they wouldn't feel left out. They grabbed their extra bags from the clubroom and left their separate ways.

Maki, Eri, and Nico didn't talk much as they walked. They reached Eri's house without much conversation. Eri was greeted as they entered the house.

"Onee-chan!" Arisa said as she hugged Eri.

"Ah- I'm home, Arisa-chan."

"Welcome home!" Arisa noticed Nico and Maki standing behind Eri. "Oh, hello Nico-chan, Maki-chan." She bowed politely.

"They'll be staying over for a while," Eri explained.

"We'll be in your care," they both said, bowing.

"Ah, likewise," Arisa bowed once more. She turned to Eri. "What's going on?"

"We're working on something for Muse."

"For Muse.. ah! Is this like Printemps? Are you three another unit?" Arisa was suddenly excited.

"Y-yeah," Eri replied, surprised by Arisa.

"Ah, that's wonderful. Yukiho-chan was telling me all about Printemps when they were working." Arisa said dreamily, her hands to her cheeks. "So, are you going to come with your own singles too? Do you guys have a name? Will you also perform?"

"S-settle down," Eri said, trying to calm down Arisa.

"We just formed yesterday. We're going to decide those things throughout the week." Nico said.

"Ah, alright," Arisa was calming down a bit. "So, since there's nine of you..."

"The other three are in a third unit," Maki finished, knowing what Arisa was about to ask next.

"That's nice. Did you really need all these mini-units though?"

"Well, not really. But after seeing how much Honoka, Hanayo, and Kotori changed after Printemps, I thought it would help Muse greatly if the rest of us tried it out as well." Eri said.

Arisa nodded her understanding. But her face was still lit with her excited smile. "Well, I look forward to having you two around," she said to Nico and Maki before she disappeared into the hallway.

"Your sister is... definitely something," Nico said, looking toward the hallway Arisa went to.

"She's a big fan of Muse," Eri explained.

Nico and Maki finally stepped into the house and the three of them went to Eri's room.

"So, what now?" Maki asked, taking a seat on the bed.

"What now..." Eri echoed, thinking of what to do.

"Well, we have to perform a song by next week. Why don't we start with that?" Nico suggested.

"Probably a good idea," Maki agreed.

"What do you think they did at Honoka-chan's house?" Eri asked.

Nico and Maki both looked at her. "Where did that come from?" Nico asked.

"Like, I wonder how they started out. What they did first and everything."

"So, what did Printemps do?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, didn't I just ask that?"

"No, you just said 'Honoka-chan's house'," Nico pointed out.

"O-oh. Well, I meant to say Printemps." Eri stared at the floor.

Nico and Maki looked at Eri curiously, then at each other.

"Okay... well.. how about we ask Arisa-chan? She did say Yukiho-chan told her what they did throughout the week," Nico suggested to break the silence.

"Good idea," Maki said. They both got up, but noticed Eri was still staring at the floor. "Uhm, Eri-chan?"

"H-huh?" she finally responded.

"Let's go ask Arisa-chan about Printemps?"

"Oh, right." She got up and moved passed them to lead them to Arisa's room. Maki and Nico looked at each other once more, not sure what to think, before following Eri down the hall.

They reached Arisa's room. They found her half asleep doing her homework. When Eri asked if she could tell them what Yukiho told her though, she was instantly awake again. She happily recalled the events Yukiho managed to see while Printemps worked. As she finished, the three of them went over what she told them.

"They taught themselves what they needed for the music programs.." Maki said, impressed.

"They really wanted to prove themselves," Nico said.

"We all knew they were working hard, but I had no idea they went through all that," Eri commented.

"Well, with Honoka-chan, it's not surprising they did it and pulled through," Nico thought. The other three nodded in agreement.

"Well, we won't have to overwork ourselves like they did though. We have more time." Eri said.

"We're also doing one song instead of two," Maki added. "Since we're just trying it first."

"I kind of want to do two songs though," Nico said. "Don't you two want to?"

"Well..." Maki hesitated.

"It's not really necessary, right? This is for the experience." Eri said. "If it turns out to be good as well, then we can do another song and release it."

"I guess," Nico said, realizing Eri had a point.

"Umm," came Arisa's voice. The three turned from the conversation to look at her. "I don't mean to interrupt, but, when's dinner?"

"Dinner?" Eri checked her watch. "Oh, I didn't realize the time. I'll get started on it right away."

Eri hurried down the hall toward the kitchen. Nico and Maki returned to Eri's room and tried thinking of more ideas for a song. The rest of the night went by with little progress.

* * *

The next day, no one met in the clubroom after school. Everyone met in their units and went straight to the houses. Eri, Maki, and Nico sat in Eri's room brainstorming once again.

"How about the theme is about love," Nico suggested. "We just did a single for Valentine's Day, after all."

"Haven't we done a lot of love themed songs though?" Eri pointed out. "Snow Halation, Mogyutto "Love" de Sekkenchu.."

"Do you have any other ideas?" Nico asked. Eri tried to say something, but realized Nico was right.

"Well, we might as well start with that," Maki said. "We need some starting point, and it can be changed later if we don't like it."

"You're right.." Eri said.

"Oh, by the way," Maki said, reaching for something in her bag. She pulled out a few bento boxes. "I had my chef prepare us food, so something like last night doesn't happen again."

Last night they had a late dinner because Eri forgot about it. They ended up having little food before going to sleep. Maki laid out the bentos. Eri and Nico stared in amazement.

"You... have quite the chefs, don't you?" Nico said. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"T-they're nothing special," Maki said.

Eri grabbed a pair of chopsticks and took a bite. "Nothing special?! This is amazing."

Nico took a bite as well. "She's right! How can you say this isn't anything special?"

"I just had them prepare something quickly.." Maki said uncomfortably. She was used to the food growing up so it wasn't anything new to her.

The three of them took a break to eat. Nico and Eri couldn't help but eat extra because of the taste.

"To have this every day, you're quite lucky Maki-chan," Eri admired as she finished.

"Really. You definitely are like a princess, Maki-chan," Nico added.

"I wouldn't say that..." Maki blushed slightly.

"Do you have diamonds everywhere in your house as well?" Eri wondered.

"Don't be silly."

"Eh? I could see you having all those kinds of things though," Nico said. "You definitely would be the princess of Muse like that."

Maki turned away again, unable to handle the compliments or control her blush.

"Diamond princess..." Eri said slowly.

Nico turned to Eri. "Huh?"

"I think I know what our song should be about."

"Oh?" Nico realized what Eri meant. They both turned to Maki, who still hadn't returned to the conversation. Finally, Maki turned back to look at them, only to find them staring at her.

"W-what?" she asked nervously.

"I think we could pull it off," Eri said.

"Yeah, should be no problem with this idea," Nico agreed.

Neither took their eyes off Maki. Maki realized she had missed something. "W-what are you two talking about? Tell me!"

"So Maki-chan, about the song.." Eri started.

"It's going to be based on you," Nico said.

"...Eh?!"

Nico and Eri both laughed. Eventually, they stopped teasing Maki and explained their actual idea.

"I-I see.. that's what you meant.." Maki was recovering, but her face was still a little red.

"Mhm. So what do you think?" Eri asked.

"It works. Did you two have ideas passed the theme?"

"Not yet," Nico said. "But it should be easier now that we have it decided."

With that decided, the three of them got to work. They started with the lyrics, writing and revising them into the night. They had finished by the end of the day and went to sleep.

The next day, Maki got started on the music, Nico started designing the costumes, and Eri got to work on the choreography. Friday, Maki had finished the music. She gave it to Eri for her to continue the choreography, and went to help Nico, who had finished the designs and started making the costumes. Saturday, Nico and Maki spent the whole day finishing the costumes, and Eri finished the choreography. Sunday they practiced the vocals and choreography all day. By the end of the day, they felt they were practiced enough to perform it tomorrow if they needed to.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Very simple, very calm chapter. These girls seem to be having no problems huh? But what about Umi, Rin, and Nozomi? Well, we'll find out next chapter!**

**This is kind of a weird way to end the chapter, I know. But it's for next chapter. After all, the performance is next chapter as well as focusing our other unit's process.**

**Alright that's it. Onto the next chapter!**


	9. Lily White & The Performance

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

[This chapter starts on Tuesday alongside chapter 8: "BiBi"]

Umi, Rin, and Nozomi left for Umi's house after getting their belongings from the clubroom. They started in silence, before Nozomi started light conversation to save the mood. Thanks to that, Umi and Rin loosened up a bit and they were able to relax by the time they reached Umi's house.

Umi led them to her room, and they set their stuff down. They unpacked a few things and settled in as Umi brought in tea. She handed Rin and Nozomi their tea and took hers as she sat down.

"So, what should we do first?" she asked.

"Well, we were formed to experience something similar to what Printemps did," Rin reviewed.

"Right. And we agreed to perform a song, so we should work on the song." Nozomi said.

"Alright. I've been wondering though.."

Nozomi and Rin looked at her curiously as Umi thought of how to explain her thought. Finally she decided to ask.

"Well, lyrics shouldn't be a problem with the three of us. And I can handle choreography. But, what about the music and costumes?"

"Ah.. you're right.." Rin realized.

"We're going to have to work around it," Nozomi said. "Printemps didn't have a choreographer or knew how to make the music, but they still managed."

"Yeah, but how?" Rin asked. "What are we going to do?"

Nozomi put her finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Well, costumes isn't a big problem. We can just put matching outfits together if we can't make them. As for the music.. I guess we're going to have to learn how to do it ourselves."

"We have to learn how to do the music ourselves?" Rin asked. "Why don't we ask for help?"

"Printemps didn't ask us for help for anything," Umi pointed out. "We probably have to figure it out ourselves, too."

"Mhm," Nozomi agreed. "How about we get the lyrics first? We can worry about the music after."

Umi and Rin nodded.

"Well then, what do we want the lyrics to be about?" Rin asked.

They started brainstorming ideas. They went into the night without much progress.

* * *

The next day passed, and the girls met up immediately after school and returned to Umi's house. They got straight back to work.

"How about someone who's uncertain about love?" Nozomi suggested.

"I don't know, we've done mostly love songs for Muse so far.." Umi pointed out.

"Probably for a very good reason," Nozomi thought.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Well, why do you suggest that, Nozomi-chan?" Rin asked.

"It's a little different from our usual songs about already being in love. Besides, I think it's something we could all relate to."

"You.. you have a point," Umi said slowly.

"I guess it should be easier to write then if we all relate.." Rin said.

The three looked in different directions, realizing how far that went. Nozomi decided now might be a good time.

"Is there.. someone you two love?"

They turned back to face Nozomi, but neither wanted to answer at first.

"You don't have to say who, if it's uncomfortable."

Umi spoke first. "Yes.. there might be someone I'm starting to like a lot."

Rin didn't speak, she just nodded. Nozomi also nodded.

"And you aren't sure what to do?"

Umi just nodded this time.

"Guess that means we're all in the same boat."

"You too, Nozomi-chan?" Rin asked.

"Yes.. and I'm not sure what will be good to do, either."

"If I may ask," Umi started, "why did you ask?"

"Why? Well, I felt like it would be helpful for us to get to know each other better. Even if we might not keep this unit, bonding like this is still nice."

"That's true," Rin agreed.

"I may be both your senpai, but you shouldn't see me as distant or mysterious anymore. I'm still like you girls in some things."

"Well, you've always given us advice," Umi said. "It's still hard not looking up to you and thinking we're equal."

Nozomi smiled. "I don't mind that. Just remember I won't know everything, either."

Umi and Rin both nodded. Nozomi felt relieved, as she saw smiles return to the girls' faces. "_Seems like it was a good idea after all,"_ she thought.

With that, the three went back to working on the lyrics. They finished with the lyrics the following day, and spent the rest of the day learning how to work the music program. The next day was Friday, meaning they were able to work later into the night as they worked on the music. They worked on it for the next two days, finishing it Sunday late in the afternoon. Nozomi and Rin took a break, while Umi went to start on the choreography.

"Whew, that's finally done," Rin said as she fell onto Umi's bed.

"Yeah, the music took a lot, but we're not done yet." Nozomi said "While Umi's doing choreography, we should start thinking about the costumes."

"Nya~" Rin yawned a little. "Can't we have at least five minutes of break?"

"We're just discussing the costumes, it's not like you'll have to move much."

Rin sighed, but sat up again. "Alright, alright. So what are you thinking?"

"Well, our best bet would be to put something together, since we can't make them."

"Alright, but what? We still need to perform in it too."

"Right." Nozomi started thinking, but she wasn't getting anywhere with it.

"What would look good but we could still perform in?"

Nozomi shook her head. "I.. I don't quite know."

"Maybe we should go shopping to try outfits until we find something.."

"Heh, shopping again," Nozomi said, thinking back to her little shopping experience with Kotori, that led into their Valentine's Day single. _"Those were some nice outfits," _she thought to herself.

"..."

"Nozomi-chan?" Rin called. Nozomi suddenly went silent and stared, so Rin was concerned.

"That's it!" Nozomi suddenly said.

Rin fell a little back in surprise. "W-what is?"

"I might know an answer to our costume problem," she said excitedly. She looked out the window, remembering how late it was. "But, I think we have to wait until tomorrow."

Umi came in some time later, having finished some of the choreography. Nozomi told her they're going to Akihabara tomorrow after school. With nothing more they could do for the night, they went to sleep.

* * *

The next day, Muse meet as usual for Monday.

"So, how's it looking?" Honoka asked.

"I think we're ready," Eri said, though a little uncertain.

"We're not," Umi admitted. "We need a few more days, if that's ok."

"Eh.. but I was looking forward to you all performing.."

"Honoka-chan.." Kotori said.

"I know, I know. How much longer do you think you'll need Umi-chan?"

"We should be ready by Wednesday," Umi told her.

"Is that alright?" Honoka asked Eri.

"Yeah, that works out for us as well." Eri replied, realizing they could use more practice.

"Alright. You have till Wednesday. We'll meet in the theatre on that day then."

With that, Honoka concluded the meeting and everyone left. Nozomi, Umi, and Rin immediately went to catch a train to Akihabara. As soon as they arrived, Nozomi hurriedly pulled Umi and Rin along as she led the way down the streets. They made their way to the store Nozomi and Kotori entered before. Nozomi led them to the floor she and Kotori had found and tried on all those outfits.

Nozomi finally let go of Rin and Umi as they arrived. The two younger girls looked around in awe.

"Wow.. there's so much here," Rin said.

Nozomi hurried through, trying to find something close to one of the outfits Kotori tried that day. Umi and Rin finally caught with her as she found it. She handed the dress to Umi and started leader her to the changing room.

"Hey, wha-" she began.

"Try it on, try it on," Nozomi said.

Nozomi got Umi to one of the changing rooms and Umi did as she was asked. She came out of the changing room a few minutes later.

"Well?" she asked.

"Looks good," Nozomi said. "Now, is it ok to move around in?"

"It feels fine."

"Good."

Umi went back to change out of the dress while Nozomi took Rin back to find dresses to match. She found a light blue and light green one, handed one to Rin, and led her back to the changing rooms to change. They both tried them on to make sure they fit.

"These are nice," Rin said, spinning around a few times.

"I thought so too. So these will work?" Nozomi asked Umi.

"Should be," she confirmed.

Nozomi and Rin changed back out of the dresses. She led them to another part of the store and they looked through accessories to go along with them. Once they had what they needed, they paid for everything and headed for Umi's house.

Once they got there, Rin and Nozomi started practicing the vocal parts while Umi went to finish the choreography. They spent the next day practicing until night. Once they had finished, they returned to Umi's room.

"I'll be honest, I was a little worried we wouldn't be ready in time," Rin admitted, taking a drink from her water bottle.

"Yeah.. Luckily it came together in the end," Umi said.

"Let's take it as a sign," Nozomi said jokingly. "Anyway, we should sleep early tonight. Get rest for tomorrow."

They agreed, but had stayed up to finish some homework before finally going to sleep.

* * *

Wednesday came, and after school the nine of them met in the theatre. Eri, Nico, and Maki went backstage first, while the others sat down. They came out a few minutes later in their outfits.

"Wah, cool.." Honoka said, admiring the outfits.

"Thanks, they're my design," Nico bragged. Maki rolled her eyes and Eri gave a chuckle.

"Alright. Well, we'll start then. Please listen to _Diamond Princess no Yuuutsu_." Eri said. And with that, the song started.

The three of them performed the song without any problems. As the song finished the other girls clapped and cheered.

"Ah that was good, really good!" Honoka said excitedly.

"Mhm, good sound, good blend," Hanayo commented.

"Seems like you all came together nicely," Kotori added.

"Thanks," Eri said.

She along with Maki and Nico bowed before heading backstage to change back into their uniforms. Once they came back Umi, Nozomi, and Rin got up from their seats to go backstage for their turn.

The three of them changed into their outfits and stood to face each other.

"Well, this is it," Rin said nervously.

Nozomi took both their hands. "Just another performance. We'll do great," she said, smiling.

"Right. We worked hard like we always do. It'll go well," Umi said, reassured by Nozomi.

Rin smiled, also feeling better. "Then let's do this."

The three of them stepped out onto the stage. This time Kotori commented first.

"Ah, there's something familiar about those dresses," she said.

"Well, you tried a similar one on before," Nozomi said.

The memory clicked in Kotori's mind. "Ah! Now I remember. Ah I love what you did with them!"

"Thanks. Now we'll perform. Please listen to _Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love_."

Just like the first unit, they performed smoothly. The others clapped and cheered as the song ended.

"The song was different but I liked it!" Honoka said cheerily.

"It was lovely indeed," Hanayo said.

"Yup. Seems like you three work well together as well," Kotori said.

Nozomi, Umi, and Rin bowed before heading backstage to change. Once they reappeared, the nine girls gathered closer.

"So.. what did you think?" Eri asked the members of Printemps.

"Yeah, were we good?" Rin asked.

Honoka, Hanayo, and Kotori looked at each other for a few moments, causing the others to get a little anxious. Finally, Honoka replied.

"I don't think they were good... I thought they were amazing!" she exclaimed.

What almost turned into six disappointed girls turned into six relieved ones.

Kotori nodded her agreement with Honoka. "Yup, I definitely think this little project was a complete success."

"Indeed," Hanayo added in. "Almost like it was meant to be."

"So here's our question to you all," Honoka said. "Are you guys going to keep the units?"

They looked at their units, before turning back to Printemps.

"Yes," rang six voices. The three of them smiled.

"I'm glad," Honoka said. "You guys might be even more popular than us once we publish these."

"Eh? You recorded them?" Umi asked.

"Of course I did, Umi-chan. They have to been seen by Muse's fans as well!"

"Well then," Kotori said. "That aside, since you're going to keep these units, you're going to need names."

"Ah that's right. Now that they're official, you'll need to come up with names for your units."

"How about we let you three come up with the names for us," Nozomi suggested.

"Eh? Why us?" asked Kotori.

"Well, in a way we were formed because of you three," Maki pointed out.

"Yeah, and it was your approval we needed," Rin said.

"So it's only fitting you three come up with our unit names," Nico finished.

Honoka, Kotori, and Hanayo looked at each other.

"Are you sure?" Honoka asked. They received six nods in response.

A few days later, they announced on the Muse web page the formation of two more mini-units, and they published each song for the introduction. "Diamond Princess no Yuuutsu" by BiBi, and "Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love" by Lily White. Honoka was partly right, as both units gained popularity quickly. However, they all hovered around the same amount of hits. So you couldn't really say one was more popular than the other two. However, there was a comment that many people had for all three units, which somewhat reassured the nine girls as a whole idol unit.

_We eagerly await Muse's next single_

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed these chapters. Like I said, I wanted this to be calm compared to Printemps's formation. Still, Lily White seemed like a little less complete compared to BiBi, but it gives a chance for more bonding :3 But I couldn't really find a way to incorporate the lyrics like I did before.**

**Just a note, "Diamond Princess no Yuuutsu" means "The Melancholy of the Diamond Princess". And, "Shiranai Love*Oshiete Love" means "Unknowing Love*Teaching Love." Just thought I'd say it here cause I don't think it's that clear during the chapters.**

**Also, maybe you might be able to sense what's happening soon. Especially from some of the dialogue this chapter. Just a heads up, a little more story and a little less song writing coming up. Are you excited? I'm excited to finally start writing it :p**

**That's it from me. I'm going to get started on the next chapter ASAP! Until next time~**


	10. Intermission: Studying

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live**!

* * *

The end of May was near, and that signals a few things for the students of Otonokizaka High School. Summer is almost near, but that means they have exams to pass first. And while it's not quite as bad as last term, Muse still has some concern for three of their members and their grades.

"Come on, Honoka-chan, just a few more problems," came Umi's voice.

"I'm trying, I'm trying." Honoka erased another mistake.

"No, no, not that equation. You use this one for these kinds of problems."

"Umi-chan, ease up a little," Kotori said uneasily.

"She has to get this for the exam though."

"Yes, but raising your voice isn't making it easier on her."

"Ah...sorry."

"Umi-chan," came Honoka's voice again. "Is this the right one?"

"No. Here." Umi wrote in Honoka's notebook. "This should help you remember which to use."

"Mm.. okay. Thank you."

Meanwhile, in a different part of the clubroom.

"Always so hard working."

"Nico-chan," came Eri's voice.

"Huh?"

"Come on, don't get distracted."

"R-right." Nico turned away from watching Honoka being tutored by Umi and Kotori. She finished writing something in her own notebook.

Eri read it over. "Mmm... ok. Onto the next prompt."

"Here you are," Nozomi handed Nico the paper with prompts, with the next one circled.

"W-why..."

"You need to be able to write no matter the prompt, Nico-chi."

"But this?"

"You're wasting time questioning things," Eri reminded her.

"Right, right." Nico started writing the next essay.

And it another part of the clubroom.

"I don't think she's having too much trouble over there.."

"Hey, Maki-chan," Hanayo called.

"Huh?" Maki turned away from the third-year trio and back to her group.

"Come on, now.. You need to help me with Rin-chan."

"Right." She looked at Rin's paper. "No Rin-chan, this is how you get the atomic number."

"Eh? But I was doing what you told me already," Rin looked at her paper confused.

"That was for the last question, which was asking something different."

"These terms need to be easier to remember."

"You just have to take the time to remember them."

"But the way you explain it is confusing."

"Rin-chan, I'm saying it simply as it can be said."

"Really...?"

Maki gave Hanayo a look, who gave a little laugh in return. As Maki turned back to Rin to help, Hanayo looked passed Maki at the third-year trio. _"I wonder how they are keeping her on track so easily,"_ she wondered to herself.

One of the two in question looked up from Nico's paper and looked at the second-year trio, particularly at Honoka who was focused on her work. _"She seems to be doing fine," _she thought.

"Eri-chi, if you're going to tell Nico-chi to focus, you should focus as well," Nozomi's voice came.

"A-ah, right," she turned back to Nico's paper as Nico continued writing.

"Done!" Honoka immediately laid her head on the table.

Umi read over the problems. "Mhm, they're fine. You can take a break now."

Kotori giggled at Honoka's immediate reaction. She patted Honoka's back for her hard work.

"Am I almost done?" Rin asked.

"Finish that page, Rin-chan." Maki replied.

"Alright..."

Nico just sighed at her half-finished essay and continued writing. Eventually the two of them finished as well, and everyone decided to take a break.

"Why are these study sessions getting longer and longer.." Nico asked tiredly.

"Because you decided not to study until now, so we have to make up for lost time," Maki said.

"Three hours straight, though?" Rin asked.

"We may have saved the school but you still need to keep your grades up, you know," Eri said.

"Make sure to do well, or extra classes won't be the only thing you'll have to worry about," Nozomi said, with a hint of mischief. Nico and Rin both immediately nodded their understanding.

"I don't think you need to go that far, Nozomi-chan.." Hanayo said.

"I think a little motivation could go a long way," Umi thought.

"What are you trying to do to us Umi-chan?" Nico asked, a little exaggerated.

"I almost agree with Umi-chan in this case," Maki said. Eri and Hanayo both nodded.

Rin grabbed onto Nico. "Nico-chan everyone's turning against us."

Nico held onto Rin. "This doesn't look good. We need to get out of here now."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere you two," came Nozomi's voice.

Hanayo and Maki grabbed Rin and Nico from behind to keep them from moving. "This is for your own good, you two," Hanayo said playfully.

"K-Kayo-chin?" Rin said in surprise.

"Maki-chan, let go," Nico said, struggling to break free.

"N-no can do, Nico-chan. You can't escape," Maki said.

Kotori watched a little off to the side as the girls continued to play. She was quite content where she was to just watch. Also, there was someone she was keeping her eye on. Honoka this whole time had been laying on the couch. Though she looked forward to taking a break, she was already back to working. She was reading one of the books they'll be tested on while she lay on the couch.

Eri turned away from the playful scene that continued and looked to Kotori, noticing she wasn't joining in. "Kotori-chan?" she called out. Kotori turned, put one finger to her lips to ask Eri to be quiet, then pointed her finger toward Honoka. For the first time Eri noticed that Honoka hadn't been with them during this break. She sat next to Kotori, facing the others to be less suspicious, and whispered to Kotori.

"Has she been working this whole time?"

Kotori nodded. "She didn't take much of a break either. I turned for a few minutes after everyone else came over and when I turned back she was already reading."

"Not going to help?"

"She's just reading, I think she'll be fine for now." Kotori seemed quite confident in that considering how much Honoka had asked for help earlier.

Eri believed Kotori. Even so, as she got back up, she went to Honoka, rather than rejoining the others.

"Hey, Honoka-chan," she said as she got up to Honoka.

Honoka looked away from her book as she heard her name. As she saw Eri, she gave her a small, tired smile. "Hi, Eri-chan."

"Back to working already? Didn't you want a break?"

"Yeah.." Honoka said, returning her attention to the book. "I took a break. I know you all don't want us to take too long of a break until we're better with the material."

"Even so, you should still give yourself more rest than that."

"I suppose. I'm not really good with poetry, though. So I thought I should put in extra work for it."

Eri looked a little surprised. _"Is this really the same Honoka that I met earlier in the year?"_ she thought to herself. When Eri first met Honoka, she definitely didn't see her as the type to be this dedicated to something like studying. Yet here she was in front of her, reading rather than playing with everyone else during break.

Eri pulled one of the seats from the table and sat down where Honoka lay on the couch. "Well, how about I help you then?"

Honoka looked from her book to Eri again. "Eh? Are you sure? You don't have to you know."

"Y-yeah I know, but someone should make sure you're understanding everything." Eri wasn't looking at Honoka as she spoke, though.

"Well, I'd be glad to have your help then," Honoka said with another small smile.

Eri relaxed a little at that. "Well, how about you read it out loud, then tell me what you think it means."

Honoka nodded, then began reading the page to Eri.

Back where the others were, two girls had noticed that Eri and Honoka weren't with them.

_"Oh? What are those two doing over there..."_ one thought, her chest tightened a little at the sight.

_"Eh? She's still working even now? She's supposed to be taking a break right now." _the other thought, though in admiration that Honoka was working so hard. The thought was interrupted as a voice called her back to her senses.

"Nico-chan, Nico-chan!"

"Eh?" she turned to face who called her name.

"Come on, you should get back to work now," Maki told her.

"Eh? That break didn't feel long enough.."

"Enough complaining. Here I'll help you while Eri's helping Honoka." she led Nico, who was still was half paying attention to her surrounds, to one of the three work spots they created.

"Nozomi-chan?"

The voice snapped Nozomi out of her own thoughts. She turned from where Honoka and Eri were to look at who called her. "Yes, Hanayo-chan?"

"It looks like we're getting started again. You should probably help one of the three," she told Nozomi.

"Kayo-chin," Rin said, grabbing hold of Hanayo's arm. "Come on, help me with this."

"Alright, alright," Hanayo replied, and she and Rin walked to the other work area.

Nozomi, Kotori, and Umi had yet to choose where to go.

"Who are you two going to help?" Umi asked them.

Nozomi looked again at where Eri and Honoka were. "I think I'll help over there," she said, and moved toward them.

"What about you, Kotori-chan?"

Kotori wasn't paying attention. She looked in the same direction as well. _"Maybe I'm too late?"_ she thought to herself.

"Kotori-chan?" Umi called again.

Kotori snapped out of her thoughts. "Uh, what?"

"Who are you going to help?" Umi repeated.

"Oh. Uhm... I'll go help over there," she indicated Nico and Maki, and got up to move over there.

"Are you alright, Kotori-chan?"

"Y-yeah.. I'm fine.." Kotori tried to put on a smile and walked to where Nico and Maki were.

Umi looked after her. She wasn't convinced with Kotori's response, but she decided it could wait till later. She went to join Rin and Hanayo.

Muse continued to have these after school study sessions for the rest of the week. The other girls made some time to focus on their own studies as well as helping Honoka, Rin, and Nico. After a seemingly long week, Friday finally came. The girls were wrapping up their last study session.

"Alright everyone," Eri said. "Next week we have exams. I expect passing grades from everyone."

Everyone nodded. Eri continued.

"Make sure to study over the weekend, but don't push yourselves too hard. You also need to be rested properly all week so you can focus during the exams."

While Eri said that for everyone, there was one person in particular that came to mind. A few eyes wandered to the ginger-haired girl in question.

"You all worry too much," Honoka said, noticing a few girls turn to her. As she said it though, it was obvious to anyone who looked at her right now how tired she was. Honoka had spent a few nights studying as well, and it was showing to the other girls.

"Like I said." Eri wasn't being as subtle anymore, as she looked directly at Honoka as she spoke. "Please get some rest this weekend."

Honoka nodded. She knew she would be trapped if she tried to argue or anything at this point.

"Just the same, don't only take it easy this weekend," Maki said to Rin and Nico this time. "Make sure to actually study."

"You don't need to worry about us, either," Nico said.

"After what happened last time.." Maki started.

"Alright, alright," Nico said hurriedly.

Hanayo gave a little yawn, and Nozomi laughed a little. "We should probably go home now. Everyone's tired," she said.

"You're right. It's also getting late," Umi said.

"Alright then. Good luck to you all," Nozomi said, and everyone left for home.

Next week came, and Otonokizaka High School entered exam mode. No one saw each other much outside of their classes, as there were no meetings during this week until exams were over. Slowly but surely they worked their way through the week. At last, the final day had come. The students waited to be dismissed for the last time of this school year. Muse gathered in the clubroom at long last.

"Hello everyone," Nozomi greeted as she and Eri entered.

"So how are the results looking?" Eri asked.

Umi and Kotori held up their papers. "All high marks here," Umi said. Their scores ranged from 89 to 95.

"Same here," Maki said.

"More like perfect marks," Nico said. Indeed, Maki had nothing below 95 on her papers.

"Nico-chan?" Eri asked.

Nico showed the papers. "Well, I passed, like we needed to." Eri saw mostly 70's and one 82.

"I passed too!" Rin said excitedly. Her papers showed a 79 average across everything.

"I did good, but not great," Hanayo said. She averaged in the 80's range.

"That's still good," Nozomi reassured her.

Eri looked around. "Where's Honoka-chan?"

"We're not really sure," Kotori said. "The teacher asked her to stay after to have a word."

Everyone held still after hearing that piece of news. Just then, the door opened, and everyone turned to see Honoka enter.

"Oh, hi everyone," she said, noticing everyone else was already gathered.

"Are you okay?" Hanayo asked.

"H-how'd you do?" Eri asked nervously.

"Well, I did my best.." she said slowly. But, she smiled, and held up her papers. Everyone was surprised once again.

Honoka averaged 95 across all papers.

A collective wave of relief and happiness hit the room.

"That's great, Honoka-chan!" Eri said, hugging Honoka.

"We're proud of you, Honoka-chan," Kotori said.

Honoka smiled as everyone enjoyed the moment. However, Honoka collapsed in Eri's arms.

"Honoka-chan?!" Kotori was the first one that rushed over. The others all gathered.

Maki did a quick check. "It's alright. She's just exhausted," Maki told the others. Another collective sigh around the room.

"She probably overworked herself again," Nico said.

"Eheh, I'm not that surprised, really," Hanayo said.

"It wouldn't be the same Honoka-chan if she didn't push herself so hard," Nozomi said.

A while later, Honoka had recovered. She sat up where she was laid on the couch. She found Eri sitting close by.

"Ah, what happened?"

"You collapsed from exhaustion," Eri told her. "We were all worried for a little, you know."

"Especially Eri-chi. She wouldn't leave your side," Nozomi said, teasing Eri a little.

"Nozomi-chan..."

"Eheh, thank you for watching over me then," Honoka said with a smile.

"Well, now that you're awake," Maki said. "I have an announcement. I got permission from my parents. We can use my family's beach house for summer vacation."

"Ah, really?!" Honoka asked excitedly.

"Calm down, Honoka-chan," Kotori said, resting her hands on Honoka's shoulders to settle her down a bit.

"Eheh, sorry."

Muse started planning for their vacation to Maki's beach house. They spent the next day packing their stuff for the month they'll be spending there. They met back up on Sunday and left together for the beach house.

* * *

**Hi guys, nobodD here! Hope you enjoyed this simple chapter :p**

**Like I said, I got started on this chapter almost right after I finished the last chapter, so I got it done rather quickly.**

**Yup, summer fun time is the next focus for our Muse girls.**

**Actually, we're approaching the end, only a couple of chapters left. -shocked- Hope you guys have enjoyed so far. And get ready cause a few things need to happen before we reach the end and the last single, which is TOTALLY not going to be the 3rd PV ;)**

**I hope I've left enough hints about what's up next. Be prepared though, cause it's going to be what you expect, but it's also not going to be at the same time.**

**I'll probably work on the next chapter as soon as I can. I should study for midterms, but, writing is a lot more fun :3**

**Alright alright, I'm done. Until next time~**


	11. Someday of My Life

**Warning: Attempt-at-feels alert. Also 1 pairing revealed! :o**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live**

* * *

Muse had reached the Nishikino beach house and immediately went inside and changed. The first thing they wanted to do was enjoy some time on the beach. They put on their swimsuits and made their way to the beach.

"Ah, the ocean!" Honoka exclaimed.

Having slept early the night before, and on the trip over, Honoka was more than rested and recovered. Kotori watched as Honoka threw herself into the water first.

"She's definitely back to normal," Umi said as she caught up with Kotori.

Kotori nodded. "It's comforting to see her cheerful again," she said.

"Kotori-chan! Umi-chan! Come on!" Honoka called back to them.

"You go on ahead. I'm going to help bring out the blankets and everything," Umi told Kotori.

"Sure, thanks," Kotori said, and she ran to join Honoka in the water.

"Where's Umi-chan going?" Honoka asked as Kotori got close.

"She's going to help bring the other stuff out," Kotori told her.

"Oh. Alright. Well then, come on, let's go a little further,"

Honoka grabbed Kotori's hand and let her a little deeper in the water.

_"If the others come along, it'll be too soon," _Kotori thought to herself. As much as she mentally prepared herself the night before, she still enjoyed this moment even if for a little.

After the water came up to a little over half their legs, Honoka had stopped. "Now then.." She turned, reaching her hands to the water and splashing water at Kotori.

The cold water had surprised Kotori, but she immediately recovered. "Oh you've done it now Honoka-chan!" She threw some water back at Honoka. They continued to play in the water as more of the Muse girls came out of the house.

"Ah, they're playing already," Rin said. She put the towels she was carrying down and tried to head over to Kotori and Honoka.

"Wait, Rin-chan. Can you help with everything first?" Hanayo called to Rin.

"Ah, but-"

"Please?"

Rin looked back one more time to the duo in the water before turning back. "Alright, alright.."

"Thank you, Rin-chan."

Rin, Hanayo, Umi, and Eri started setting up the blankets, umbrella, and chair. Umi blew up a beach ball for later. Meanwhile, back in the water, Honoka had noticed the other girls coming out.

"Kotori-chan look. Looks like everyone is almost ready."

Kotori followed where Honoka pointed back at the beach. She sighed a little, but so Honoka wouldn't notice.

"Come on, let's get back to them."

Honoka started to make her way back with Kotori following behind her. Just before they were back on the beach, Honoka stepped on something in the water. She stopped running as she felt the pain under her foot.

"Owe.."

"Ah, Hono-"

Kotori had been thinking to herself as they made their way back, and didn't realize in time Honoka stopped. She bumped into Honoka and they fell into the shallow water.

Kotori slowly lifted her head up. "Ugh... that hurt a little.."

"K- Kotori-chan..." Honoka said nervously.

Kotori heard that Honoka was nervous and looked. She finally realized that she fell on top of Honoka. Their bodies were pressed against each other, aside from Kotori's upper body from where her arms were supporting her.

_"Why... why is this happening now?" _Kotori thought to herself. She tried preparing herself before this trip. She knew she shouldn't be allowed to steal these glances, to have these moments. Yet, right now as she looked down at Honoka, she didn't feel guilty at all that she had Honoka to herself like this.

Honoka herself couldn't believe the position they were in. She was so close to Kotori. Yet, should she let herself enjoy this? Would she betraying her friend for this? However, the pain from her foot snapped her back to reality.

"Owe"

"Ah, are you ok?" Kotori as well snapped out of her thoughts.

"Y-yeah... just stepped on something so my foot hurts a bit."

They stared silently at each other for a few moments. Another wave slowly hit the beach, and along where Honoka was on the beach.

"K- Kotori-chan, could we maybe move now?"

"Ah, r-right."

Kotori stood up first, then helped Honoka back up. Finally they made their way back to the others.

Eri looked up as they finished setting everything up. She noticed Honoka was walking awkwardly. "What happened?" she asked, a little concerned.

"Ah, it's nothing serious. I just stepped on a rock or something."

"You're not sure?" Hanayo asked.

"Well, I didn't really look when it happened." Honoka decided not to mention what actually happened. Silently Kotori thanked her.

"Here, sit down," Maki said, indicating a nearby chair she set. "Let me just check real quick, before everyone starts worrying again."

Honoka did as she was asked and sat down. She held her leg out and Maki did a quick check.

"You're right, nothing to worry about," Maki confirmed.

"Hey, Maki-chan, are you still interested in being a doctor?" Kotori asked.

The others turned, a little surprised by the sudden question. "Why do you ask, Kotori-chan?" Umi asked.

"Well, even after she joined us she still knows a lot about that stuff. Like in the clubroom, she was able to recognize that Honoka was just exhausted. And she also knows how-"

"That's enough," Maki quickly interrupted. Her face was threatening to turn red.

"What? I was just saying you also know how to do these check-ups."

"O-oh.."

"What did you think she was going to say, Maki-chan?" Nico asked.

Maki looked away. She thought Kotori was going to mention the massage from a few months back. "N-nothing. Nothing important."

The others looked curiously, unsure what was happening. Honoka eventually broke the silence.

"Say, where's Nozomi-chan?"

"Here I am," Nozomi's voice came from the side. They all turned to see her as she made her way over.

"Where have you been?"

"I just had something I wanted to check, and it took a little long," she said calmly.

"What could have taken that long?" Eri asked.

"That's a secret," Nozomi said, her keyword that she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. "So, how about we get to enjoying the beach? I see everything is set up."

"Yeah let's go!" Rin said excitedly.

"You all can go ahead," Honoka said, to the surprise of the other girls.

"Eh? You're not coming, Honoka-chan?" Hanayo asked.

"Nah. I'll take it easy for a bit." She raised her foot that stepped on whatever it was in the ocean. "It's probably a good idea, right?" She asked Maki.

"Well, it wasn't anything serious. But that's not a bad idea either," Maki said.

"So that's how it is," Honoka concluded, then made a motion for the others to go. "Don't worry about me, I'll be right here. Have some fun!"

Honoka told them with such energy and enthusiasm that the others decided they were just over-thinking things.

"Well, if you're sure," Umi said. "Come on Kotori-chan, let's go into the water." Umi and Kotori went ahead.

"Yeah, let's enjoy the beach!" Rin exclaimed. She took hold of Maki and Hanayo and excitedly led them to the ocean.

"We should follow too," Nico told Eri and Nozomi. Together the three third-years followed the rest of Muse. Nozomi had something else on her mind though.

When the others had left the beach house, Nozomi found a quiet space and set up her tarot cards. Once they were ready, she began flipping them in sequence. Almost immediately after she read the prediction, however, she had regretted it. She stared at her cards, almost wishing she had just read them wrong. She knew she read them correctly, though. And the prediction...

_"Painful obstacles, before we find love and happiness."_ Nozomi thought once again. The prediction could be summed up to more or less that. Pain. Love. Happiness. But that's as much as she got, and it worried Nozomi.

"Are you alright, Nozomi-chan?" Eri called, noticing that Nozomi was spaced out.

"Ah, yes. Don't worry, I'm alright."

Eri seemed satisfied with that. She took the beach ball and hit it over to Nico.

_"We're in for quite the summer vacation, it seems..."_ she thought. Eventually she shook away the thoughts and joined in on the beach activities.

Honoka laid back in her chair a bit and watched her fellow Muse enjoy the beach. She saw Umi and Kotori off in the water, playing. She saw Eri and Nozomi with the beach ball. Nico and Maki were drawing stuff in the sand. Rin and Hanayo, well she couldn't see really but they seemed to also be using the sand for something.

Honoka sighed softly. She felt something in her chest and decided to look away. _"If things ended up working like that..." _She shook her head before she finished the thought. Though she was once again reminded that she couldn't really control the others in that way. _"Well, they would all look cute together.."_ Honoka put on a pair of sunglasses. In a last effort to keep herself from her thoughts, she tried to take a nap.

_"I hope she's okay," _Eri thought, noticing Honoka laying in the chair. She seemed fine, but for some reason Eri couldn't convince herself completely.

"Eri-chi!" Nozomi called.

Eri snapped back to her senses as the ball landed in front of her. "Ah, sorry!" She picked up the beach ball and hit it back to Nozomi.

Nico had taken a small pause from her and Maki's little sand drawing competition and noticed Honoka as well. _"She still looks like she's enjoying herself," _she thought.

Further, in the water, Kotori and Umi as well stopped to look over. Like Nico, Umi thought nothing else of it aside from Honoka looking happy. Kotori had a doubt, but quickly pushed it away, deciding she's just worrying too much.

Muse continued to enjoy themselves. As it started to get dark, they decided to head back inside. All nine helped to gather everything and carry them inside the house. They took turns showering and changing until they were all done. Then together they went into the dining room, where they found a beautiful spread of food.

"My family had this prepared in advance. But it's only for tonight, so we'll have to cook our dinners after tonight.

"I-it's all amazing..." Honoka said as she saw the food.

"Yeah..." Rin said, too impressed to say anything else.

"Let's get started," Nico said, almost unable to control her hunger.

Muse happily enjoyed the dinner. Over dinner they were talking about how their exams and then about how the beach was. Kotori and Hanayo went and washed the dishes after everyone was finished. They all gathered in the living room after.

"So I was thinking," Nico started. "Since we're here, why not make a summer single?"

"A summer single?" Eri asked.

"Yeah!" Nico said excitedly. "Don't you think this place would be perfect for it?"

"Well, that might be true.." Maki said, considering the idea.

"We have a lot of time, too. We are here for a month, after all," Kotori pointed out.

"I say it's a good idea," Rin said. Some of the others nodded as well.

"Well we could then if we all want to. Honoka-chan?" Eri said.

No response. The others looked as well. Honoka was just sitting there, staring.

"Honoka-chan!"

Honoka snapped out of her blank state. "W-what?"

"Did you hear anything we've been saying?" Kotori asked.

"Ah... I wasn't paying attention... Sorry."

"Are you alright?" Hanayo asked.

"Just a little tired, is all," Honoka replied, forcing a smile.

"Well.. back to the question," Eri said slowly. "What do you think about a summer single?"

"Sounds great. When are we starting?"

"Not right away," Nico answered. "We should just use the next week or two to get some video clips and just to enjoy vacation. Then we can start working."

"Well, that's for later. Right now, I think we should sleep," Eri said.

"It is late now, isn't it?" Nozomi said.

Indeed, as they looked outside, it had gotten dark out. So, the girls said goodnight as they walked down the halls to their rooms and went to sleep.

All but one, who stepped out of her room and walked back down to the living room. She quietly slid the glass door open and slipped through. She stepped onto the patio and gazed up at the night sky.

"Beautiful.."

Honoka just stood there, gazing up at the sky, admiring its beauty. The combination of the moon and all the shining stars helped to ease her mind. She reached a hand up, as if trying to reach for a star and grab it out of the night sky. It was a vain attempt, and she knew it. She expected it. She had already felt this feeling before.

A cool air blew, something usually comforting during a warm night. For Honoka right now, however, it only brought one thing to mind.

Loneliness.

She took her eyes off the sky. She held herself as she came to gaze at the floor. She thought back to the beach in the afternoon. At how happy everyone was together.

"They'd all make nice couples.. huh?"

The next thing she knew, she found herself on her knees, a tear trickling down her cheek. She had finally admitted it. She tried not to think about it, but it got her in the end.

Umi and Kotori, they got along so well. She wasn't sure if there was something more between them. She was quite convinced there was. She had her moments with Kotori. They had Printemps. But, if Umi and Kotori really did like each other, then what happened at the beach felt completely wrong. She couldn't separate her friends like that.

The same thoughts popped up as Honoka thought of the other Muse members. They got along well. She could definitely see them all working out as couples. Honoka shook her head, as if still trying to deny it. But she couldn't. She couldn't imagine what Muse would be like if things ended up like that. It felt like a real possibility, almost clearly after today. Honoka knew she had to come to terms with this. The possibility of her friends becoming lovers with each other. That she lost Kotori.

Honoka looked up again to the night sky, wiping the tears from her face. _"I'll have to face whatever happens," _she thought to herself. _"Even if I'm not ready yet.." _Once more, the wind blew.

[Unlike the original version of "Someday of My Life," in this scene Honoka sings it more softly and slowly, like "Mou Hitori Janai Yo" from Honoka's solo CD]

_**Kaze ga yon deru ki ga sawaida  
Sakurairo odoru kisetsu  
Omoide ga mata hirahira aa maiorite**__**Deai no hi o omoidasu no  
Saisho kara atsuku tsuyoku  
Hajimari no munasawagi kanji tsudzukete ita yo ne**__  
_

Unknown to Honoka, another Muse member had woken up to go use the bathroom. As she came out of the bathroom, she heard the sound from Honoka falling to the patio floor. A little concerned, she had gone to investigate. She recognized Honoka on the patio, but she didn't make any noise, or didn't try to get close. She heard Honoka singing.

_**Yakusoku shimashou  
Itsuka wa hanarebanare ni natte mo  
Futatabi koko de mitsume aeba  
Utsukushi hana sakihokoru**_

**One day in the rain, One day in the shine**  
**Nagareru omoi yo kienaide**  
**Watashitachi wa onaji basho de ashita o miteta**  
**One day in the rain, One day in the shine**  
**Afureru omoi o dakishime**  
**Watashitachi no michi wa tsudzuku tsudzuite hirogaru… yume**

Honoka's observer looked on, surprised. _"Why is she here? And what's with this song. Why is it so...sad?"_ she thought to herself. Honoka continued with her song.

_**Yurete toku ni moeru midori  
Natsu no kodo niji o egaite  
Hibiita koe ni dokidoki aa tokimeite**_

**Zutto issho ga ii ne nante**  
**Sasayaite terekusai no**  
**Owaranai tanoshisa o shinji tsudzukete itai to**

**Onegai shimashou**  
**Yozora no hoshi ga shiranai mirai o**  
**Kanarazu koko de tashikame au**  
**Kawaranu kizuna no tsuyo-sa**

**Someday of my life, someday of my love**  
**Kanashiku shinaide waraou yo**  
**Watashitachi no mamade ireba ashita mo egao**  
**Someday of my life, someday of my love**  
**Takusan no kimochi ga komiage**  
**Watashitachi e kibo kureru kureru yo hirogare… yume**

The girl held a hand to her chest. Something wasn't right here. _"I thought she was happy. She looked fine earlier. What's going on?!"_

**One day in the rain, One day in the shine**  
**Nagareru omoi yo kienaide**  
**Watashitachi wa onaji basho de ashita o mi teta**

Honoka reached a hand to her face. Her observer then realized something. _"She's... she's crying?"_ her heart hurt a little at the sight. Honoka, the cheerful leader of Muse. The hardworking center of Muse. Yet, right here in front of her, she was singing this sad song. She had hid her troubles. And she was hurting, suffering. _"This.. this is wrong.."_

_**Someday of my life, someday of my love  
Kanashiku shinaide waraou yo  
Watashitachi no mamade ireba ashita mo egao  
Someday of my life, someday of my love  
Takusan no kimochi ga komiage  
Watashitachi e kibo kureru kureru yo hirogare… yume **_

Honoka finished her song. She reached her face again to wipe away more tears. Her silent onlooker could no longer stand there. The scene hurt too much to watch. She slipped through the door and embraced Honoka from behind. Honoka was surprised by the sudden embrace. She tried to turn but she couldn't see who it was.

"This... this is just wrong, Honoka-chan... it's just wrong..." came the voice.

Honoka was even more surprised as she realized who it was behind her. She tried hard to keep her voice steady. "Nico-chan?"

Nico didn't move. She continued to hold Honoka like this. "This isn't right... " she repeated. "You're always working so hard. You're always so kind, so cheerful..."

Why was Nico saying those things, Honoka wondered to herself. She tried to break free to face Nico, but Nico still didn't let them move. "Nico-chan?" she tried again.

"Why are you keeping things to yourself?"

"It's... probably better for everyone that way.." Honoka felt some of the pressure lighten after she said that.

"...Better?"

Nico finally let go of Honoka. Honoka turned to look at Nico, only for Nico to slap her across the face.

"Better? How is this possibly better for us? You know how hard it is for us to see you hurt or suffering? Do you know how we feel when we see that?"

Honoka said nothing. She just brought her hand to where Nico just hit her on the face, staring dumbly at her. Nico continued.

"If you're ever hurt, or suffering, or down, then it affects all of us. If you can't give your all, then we can't give our all, either." Nico, despite how she felt right now, was managing to keep her voice down to not wake any of the others up, yet loud enough to Honoka who needed to hear this.

"You give us so much, Honoka-chan. You taught me a lot with that dedication of yours. You taught us all. And we want to give back. We want to help you Honoka-chan. But we can't if you keep hiding everything and telling yourself it'll be better if you're the only one suffering. We can't go on without you."

Finally, Nico broke through. She said what Honoka needed to hear. Honoka, losing control of her emotions, broke down in front of Nico. She embraced Nico, burying her crying face into Nico's shoulder. Nico wrapped her arms around Honoka, comforting her. They stayed like this for a few minutes, while Nico let Honoka calm down. Finally, Honoka's crying had stopped. She let go of Nico and sat facing her properly.

"Thank you, Nico-chan.."

"Don't mention it.." Nico didn't look directly at Honoka.

"Did you really mean those things earlier?"

"Every word."

Slowly, Honoka smiled an honest smile. Nico was relieved as she saw. "Thank you, Nico-chan. Really, thanks for tonight."

"I said don't mention it.. Now, can you tell me what's wrong? What was all this about?"

"I... don't want to be alone..."

"Alone?" Nico looked straight at Honoka now.

"Everyone seems to get along with someone really well. Like, you could all start dating. But, that made me feel lonely... I started to think maybe it would be better if I stayed out of it. Even if it means letting go of who I liked. I tried my best not to think about it when we came here, but the beach today only made it more real."

Honoka finished, but no reply came. As she looked at Nico, another slap came across her face. But before she looked back this time, Nico had pulled Honoka to her.

"Baka.. Don't say things like that.."

"Like what?"

"That it's better for you not to love."

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Becau-"

Before Honoka could ask, Nico had put both hands on her face. The next thing she knew, she felt Nico's soft lips on her own. Nico was kissing her, Honoka realized. Rather than freezing from surprise, Honoka returned the kiss. Nico had gently laid Honoka on the patio as they continued their kiss, only stopping for a quick breath. After a few minutes, Nico pulled away.

"Does that answer your question?" she asked, looking down at Honoka.

"Nico-chan... you.." Honoka began.

" I... Yes... I love you, Honoka-chan. I've admired you for a while now. How hard you work, how cheerful you were, how nothing ever seemed to stop you. Like with Printemps, and just the other week when you studied more than any of us. I think I started liking you for that. Your personality. But after tonight, after seeing you hurt, seeing you cry... I don't ever want to see that again. You're not meant to be sad, or alone, or to shoulder all this burden. And I'll... I'll make sure to keep you from being sad again. I'll work hard to protect you.. I will.."

Honoka just looked up at Nico from where she lay. Despite what was said, she was close to crying again. But not because she was sad this time, but happy. She was happy to hear those words. To realize how wrong she was about her fears.

"Thank you, Nico-chan.. Thank you.." a tear trickled down Honoka's cheek.

Nico wiped the tear away. "You're welcome. Now stop crying, okay?"

Honoka nodded. She was now aware of something in her chest. Nico just laid everything out for her, now it was time for her to take the next step.

"Well, if you're okay with a girl like me..." she said, wrapping her arms around Nico.

Nico didn't say anything. Instead, she let her action tell Honoka what she felt. She got close again and they kissed once more.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Maybe you saw this coming, maybe you didn't. But here it is. Yep the first pair is HonoNico.**

**Why, though? Well, a few things. After chapter 1 when I decided that I'll include romance in this story, I had also decided that I wouldn't use any of the common pairings for the girls. I had wanted to mix things up and use some less common pairs, but still pairings that could work. When I was thinking of how I could get a story to work like that, well Honoka easily came to mind, and most notably her song, "Someday of My Life." I feel like Honoka's personality lends her to have some of the more powerful/emotional scenes. And seeing as how this fic is about songs as well, "Someday of My Life" seemed like the perfect song for Honoka to sing while she had almost completely given up.**

**With that kind of story for Honoka, next came who would support her? Well, at the time I was looking up fanart (of course.. haha) and I saw a HonoNico picture. And then I thought about it. Nico could make a great character to play that older/protective role for Honoka. To get to that, I had Nico see and admire Honoka for being hardworking, but always smiling. I've had this scene in mind for a while, and to get it to work, Nico had to be overtaken seeing Honoka in a completely different state than she came to believe. She had to feel it was wrong that Honoka was the one suffering like this, and had to want to protect her and prevent it. I gave Nico that kind of role, and suddenly this pairing made a lot of sense to me.**

**There is also another theme I wanted to use with the pairings, but that might not become apparent until after the next few chapters. Definitely by the time you see all the pairings I think you'll get it.**

**By the way, I think I may have done the hinting poorly for this. But, there were 2 Muse that had their eyes on Honoka. There was one for Nico as well. What happens to them now? Will Muse find out about this new relationship? I hope you stick around to find out. Love is in the air, and Muse can't escape it.**

**Well, I hope people stick around till the end. I hope to see you next time!~**


	12. Intermission: Realizing & Comforting

**Hey guys, nobodD here! I got through my midterm today with minimal scratches ;) And as promised I worked on this chapter to get it out as quickly as I could. Here you go!**

**Like last chapter, it's a kind of long read as well. But, you'll see why. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

The next morning came, and Umi got out of bed. She stretched a little before opening her door and stepping into the hallway.

"Ah, good morning, Kotori-chan."

She found Kotori, who had just stepped out of her room as well.

"Good morning, Umi-chan," Kotori rubbed her eyes.

"Still tired?" Umi asked.

"Just a little.." Kotori yawned. She made quite a cute face to Umi.

"Ah, good morning you two."

They turned and saw Nozomi coming from her room.

"Good morning, Nozomi-chan," they both greeted.

Rin, Maki, and Hanayo had soon come out of their rooms as well. And together the six of them walked down the hall on their way to the kitchen. Maki led the way down the hall as they all talked to each other. As they reached the living room, Umi had noticed there were blankets on the couch that weren't there last night. She walked over to collect them, but as she got closer, she saw something that made her freeze.

"Hm? What's wrong, Umi-chan?" Nozomi asked. When the other girls noticed Umi wasn't with them, they turned to find her by the couch, a strange look on her face.

"Uh..." Umi wasn't sure what to say. "Why don't you come here and see for yourself.."

The others gave each other confused looks, then made their way over to Umi. As they got closer, they saw what she found on the couch, and were just as shocked as Umi was.

On the couch, under the blankets, they found Honoka and Nico, sleeping in each other's arms.

"H... Honoka-chan?" Kotori couldn't believe it.

"E-eh?!" Hanayo rubbed her eyes, but she wasn't imagining anything.

"W- what's going on here?" Maki wanted to know.

"What are they... why are they..." Rin was completely confused.

Honoka stirred. The sudden noises had woke her up. She tried moving her left arm, but something was preventing her from doing so. She rubbed her eyes with her right hand as she slowly woke herself up fully. Once she could see, she found Nico in front of her. She thought back to the events from last night. After they confessed and accepted each other, Nico had gone and fetched the blanket from her room. She returned to the patio, and they sat enjoying the night sky together. They enjoyed each other's company, warmth, and of course their lips. What was at first quick pecks on the lips became passionate kisses late into the night. Eventually they ended their little make-out session. The day had finally caught up to Honoka, and she felt incredibly tired. Nico helped Honoka back into the beach house. Nico closed the door behind them and led Honoka to the couch, realizing how tired she was. With a final kiss goodnight, the two fell asleep together, wrapped in Nico's blanket.

Honoka smiled as she looked at her love's sleeping face. She looked so peaceful. Her hair down, free from any of her usual hair ties, had a certain beauty to it. Honoka ran her hand through Nico's hair. She silently wished moments like these could last forever.

"Well, good morning, Honoka-chan."

Honoka froze. For a while, she had forgotten that she was on vacation with Muse, at Maki's family's beach house. The familiar voice brutally reminded her. She turned as best she could to face where the voice came from.

"G-good morning, Nozomi-chan..." and she turned to something that made her skin crawl. Not just Nozomi, but five others were looking at her. She quickly realized that the six of them had probably watched her as she woke up.

"Honoka-chan..." Kotori said as calmly as she could. "Could you please tell us... what's going on?"

"Uh..." Honoka hesitated. While she didn't mind telling them, she wasn't sure if Nico wanted to let everyone know yet.

As if on cue, Nico started to stir. She rubbed her eyes as she slowly woke up.

"Ah, good morning, Nico-chan," Honoka said, thankful for a reason to turn away from the others.

"Good morning, Honoka-chan," Nico said as she was able to focus. Nico and Honoka gave each other a good morning kiss.

"Eh?!" came six voices from behind Honoka.

A little surprised by the sudden voices, Nico became aware of the other girls. She looked passed Honoka to see their shocked expressions.

"Will someone please tell us what's going on?" Rin asked.

"Did you want to?" Nico asked Honoka.

"If you're okay with it," Honoka replied.

"Alright." She looked passed Honoka to the others again. "Well, I guess you just saw. But Honoka-chan and I are going out."

"R-really?" Kotori asked.

Honoka laid on her back so she could face everyone easier. She nodded. "Yes, it's true. We're dating now."

"I see.." Kotori replied. She had already figured it out, but now it was confirmed. She put on a smile. "Well, congratulations you two."

"Y-yeah," Umi said. "I'm still a bit surprised, though."

"Yeah, wasn't expecting this," Rin said. "But still, congratulations you two!"

"When did this happen?" Hanayo asked.

"Last night," Honoka answered. "A lot of things happened.."

"Yeah, but eventually we found out our feelings." Nico finished for her. She held onto Honoka's hands as Nico laid on top of her.

After seeing that, she couldn't take any more. Maki ran back up the stairs to the hallway with the bedrooms.

"Ah, Maki-chan?" Rin asked surprised. She tried to go after her, but Kotori stopped her. "Kotori-chan?"

Kotori shook her head. "It's better if we leave her alone right now."

"Eh? But.." Umi started.

"Kotori-chan's right," Nozomi interrupted. "It won't do you much good if you go after her right away. Give her a little time."

Umi, Rin, and Hanayo looked at Nozomi with concerned expressions. Nozomi held a stern face, and they knew to listen. They figured she was right.

"...This is probably my fault.. isn't it?" Honoka asked Nico quietly

Nico turned to her. "No, it's not Honoka-chan. If anything, it's mine."

Honoka pulled Nico closer to her. "It'll be okay, Nico-chan."

Nico nodded. "I'll go talk to her after she's calmed down."

"Well then," came Nozomi's voice. "Since you two went sneaking around, it's only fitting you make the rest of us breakfast, right?" She asked in her usual manner, trying to relieve the tension that filled the air.

"You're right," Nico said, realizing Nozomi's intentions. "We'll get started right away."

The two got up and everyone made their way to the kitchen. All except Kotori, who snuck away from the group. She knew what she really had to do, and made her way back into the hallway, entering one of the rooms.

The rest of the group reached the kitchen. Hanayo as well decided now would be a good time.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to use the bathroom first," she told them, and turned around. She made her way back to the hallway, but entered a different room than the one Kotori entered.

* * *

Kotori stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She found Maki sitting on her bed, hugging her legs, tears streaming down her face. Maki looked over as she heard the door.

"D-do you mind? I want.. to be alone..." Maki said through sniffles.

"You know, you're not the only one who lost at love this morning."

That response surprised Maki. She looked back at Kotori. Kotori realized she had Maki's attention now, and made her way to the bed.

"What do you mean?" Maki asked as Kotori took a seat on the side of the bed.

"Exactly what I said. You're the last to realize it for now, but you're not the only one with a broken heart. Though, I realized it for a while now..." Kotori trailed off.

"Kotori-chan..? You..."

"Yes, I liked Honoka-chan. No, that's wrong. I LOVED her. But, I realized someone else had feelings for her as well. And someone else had feeling for me. When I saw her and Honoka-chan together... how happy Honoka-chan made her, how much concern she had for Honoka-chan... I gave up. I thought it wouldn't work out between us. I thought Honoka-chan was out of my reach."

Kotori shook her head.

"I accepted it. Yet, I was still given time alone with her yesterday. We had fun by ourselves. I saw her embarrassed. But in the end, neither of us got her. Now you lost Nico-chan, and we lost Honoka-chan... it's not fair..."

Maki looked at her legs again. She realized who Kotori said also loved Honoka. She also realized Kotori had figured out she liked Nico. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, before Kotori spoke again.

"I guess it's not completely bad though."

Maki wiped a few left over tears as she looked back at Kotori. "H-how?"

"If I didn't give up on Honoka-chan, I would've taken what happened a lot worse. And I wouldn't have fallen for another person instead."

Maki nodded as she understood the first part. Then she thought of the last part and looked at Kotori again.

"Wait, what do-"

Maki was cut off by Kotori's lips. Kotori had crawled on the bed to kiss Maki. Now she laid Maki onto the bed as she continued the kiss. Maki was surprised by Kotori's actions. But, probably more surprised that she was enjoying this a little. She kissed Kotori back. Kotori felt that Maki wasn't fighting, and decided to continue. She used her tongue and explored Maki's mouth. Maki let out a little sound as she felt it. They continued the kiss for a little before Kotori pulled away. They stayed as they were, Maki on her back and Kotori hovering over her, as they gasped for breath.

"K-Kotori-chan?" Maki breathed. "Why..?"

"Why?" A smile touched Kotori's face. "Because that girl I fell for, is you Maki-chan."

"But.. why me?"

"Why? Maybe I have a thing for hardworking girls. Of course, you're also very cute and lovable." The smile on Kotori's face widened a bit. "You also gave me that wonderful massage."

Maki blushed a bit from Kotori's compliments and the mention of the massage. Kotori just caressed Maki's cheek.

"Even if you're not ready to love again, or if you're not accepting of my feelings, I'll still try. Unlike with Honoka-chan, I can't give up on you, and I won't give up on you. There's just something about you I can't let go. Because I love you, Nishikino Maki. I love you very much."

Maki was surprised by Kotori's confession. She wasn't sure what to say, or how to respond to Kotori's feelings. Kotori, on the other hand, was satisfied that she was able to say what she needed to. She sat back up, but before she went to get off the bed, Maki had grabbed her. She held Kotori from behind.

"Can you... can you stay for a while?" she asked.

Kotori smiled as she turned back to Maki. "Is that what you want?"

Maki simply nodded. She wasn't exactly sure why, but suddenly she didn't want Kotori to leave. Kotori just continued smiling as she pulled Maki closer to her. She held Maki against her chest, caressing her back. Maki just sat in Kotori's hold.

"Thank you, Kotori-chan," she said after a while.

"Of course," Kotori simply replied.

"I don't know how to feel right now... but..."

"It's alright," Kotori interrupted her. "I don't expect you to instantly recover from a broken heart. I'll be here for you though."

"Thank you.."

They stayed in the same position for a while. Maki grew more and more comfortable in Kotori's arms. Because of the surprise in the living room, her crying, and Kotori's sudden actions, Maki was a bit tired again. She fell asleep in Kotori's warm embrace.

"Eheh, poor girl," Kotori said. She decided that she could eat later. She lay Maki back onto the bed and decided to rest there.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hanayo entered a different room. As she stepped in and closed the door behind her, she found what she expected. The person she was looking for was still in bed.

"Eri-chan.."

Eri heard her name and looked from her bed. "Oh.. Hanayo-chan."

"Not getting up?"

"I'll be down for breakfast. I just need some time to myself."

"Not too long I hope. Sitting around moping won't help your problem."

Eri sat up in her bed, a little annoyed. "What would you know?"

Hanayo didn't flinch. "I know that you love Honoka-chan. And you found out about her and Nico-chan last night. And that's why you won't come out yet, because you're afraid to face them."

Eri froze. Hanayo was completely right. She saw right through her. "H-how did you know?"

"I think people could tell you were starting to like Honoka-chan for a while now. As for last night, I was going to the bathroom and caught you watching. I couldn't hear their conversation, though. It made sense when they told us this morning that they were dating."

Eri had heard the noise of Honoka dropping to her knees and then singing last night, but when she came out of her room to check, she saw Nico already at the glass door. Eri had silently witnessed the point from Nico first embracing Honoka to the confession. By that time, Eri couldn't handle it, and rushed back to her room. Hanayo had retreated to her room before Eri could notice her.

Eri thought she cried all she could last night. But she felt tears rolling down her face again. She tried to rub her eyes clean of tears. Then, she felt someone holding her. Hanayo had moved closer and warped her arms around Eri, caressing her back as she tried to comfort her.

"There, there.. It's ok to cry if you need to."

Even if she didn't want to, Eri couldn't control it. She buried her face on Hanayo's shoulder as she freely cried. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Eri was starting to calm down.

"Feeling better?" Hanayo asked.

"A little..."

"That's good... Crying doesn't fit you."

Surprised, Eri looked at Hanayo, who had turned away after saying that.

"W-what?"

"I.. prefer seeing you when you smile.." Hanayo said shyly. She quickly got up from the bed. "E-enough of that, breakfast is ready soon, so we should go."

As she turned though, Eri had quickly rose from the bed. She held Hanayo from behind. Hanayo froze from surprise. "E- Eri-chan?"

"Hanayo-chan.." Eri asked slowly. "Could it be that.. you actually like me?"

Hanayo didn't reply right away. She put her hands on Eri's that were wrapped around her waist. "I.. guess you could say that," she finally answered.

"Why?"

"Well, I've admired you for a while now. How you seem to know what you want, and had the courage to do everything you could. So strong-willed and decisive, unlike me."

"Why? There's nothing wrong with being you either, Hanayo-chan. There's less pressure on you. It's easier for you to make friends. You get adapt well to what others have you do."

"Maybe.. But I've always wanted to be more like you. I can never make my own decisions. I always need help from others..."

"But it's alright if you're a little indecisive. And it's definitely nothing to be ashamed of to get help."

"So, you're not ashamed of me helping you then?"

Eri stopped at that. She realized what Hanayo was doing. She smiled. "No, I'm not ashamed one bit. In fact, I'm very thankful that you came to cheer me up."

"I-it's no trouble," Hanayo said embarrassed. She felt Eri kiss her cheek and was surprised.

"That's your reward for cheering me up," Eri said. "And this," she spun Hanayo around and planted a kiss on her lips. "And that's the answer to your feelings."

Hanayo was too surprised. She just looked at Eri. "Eh? Wait you-"

Eri smiled. "I don't know what will happen, but for being able to cheer me up the way you did, you deserve a chance to test your feelings."

"You mean..."

"Yes, I'll go out with you, Hanayo-chan."

"Then..." Hanayo stepped closer to kiss Eri. Eri returned the kiss, a little to Hanayo's surprise. But more to her relief.

"I guess I should thank Honoka-chan and Nico-chan later," Hanayo said after.

"Why?"

"For helping me realize my feelings and giving me courage to go after you."

Eri smiled. "Well, we should both thank them then."

"Come on, breakfast should be ready soon."

Hanayo led Eri out of the room and down the hall, not letting go of each other's hands.

* * *

Maki slowly woke up once again. She rubbed her eyes, and blushed a little. She found herself in Kotori's arms, and Kotori herself smiled as she saw Maki awake.

"Good morning again, Maki-chan."

Though the blush held, she smiled back. "Good morning, Kotori-chan."

"Feeling better now?"

"Yeah, thanks to you."

It was Kotori's turn to blush a little. "Eheh, don't mention it."

Maki decided she could say it now. "Kotori-chan."

"Hm?"

"I may not be good with love, but if you're willing to take me, I'd be glad to be in a relationship with you."

Kotori was a little surprised by this. "A-are you sure?"

Maki nodded. "It may take some time to get over Nico-chan for me, but... I'm willing to try if you are."

Kotori smiled as relief came over her. "Thank you, Maki-chan. I would love to have you as my girlfriend."

Kotori pulled Maki closer to her and they kissed again. After a while, they pulled away.

"We should probably go downstairs for breakfast soon," Kotori said.

"Yeah.." Maki thought of something. "Should we tell everyone right away? You said there's someone that likes you, right?"

Kotori gave it some thought. "Yes, I think it's better if we tell them sooner rather than later. I'll talk to the person when I get a chance."

Slowly, they got up together and left the room, hand in hand. _"I'm sorry, Umi-chan," _Kotori thought as they walked down the hall together.

* * *

Back in the kitchen, Honoka and Nico just finished preparing breakfast. They prepared a very normal breakfast, enough for all nine of them. Nozomi, Umi, and Rin had set the table. Honoka and Nico brought out everyone's food. They set plates for each of the nine seats and everyone sat down.

"This looks wonderful," Rin said.

"Smells good too," Umi said as the scents filled her nose.

"Should we wait for the others or just start eating?" Nozomi asked.

"We're here," came Hanayo's voice.

Hanayo and Eri entered the dining room.

"Ah, good morning Eri-chan. I was wondering where you were earlier," Honoka said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Honoka-chan," Eri replied, smiling. "Good morning, everyone."

Nozomi noticed that Eri and Hanayo were holding hands. She looked in surprise. Rin had noticed as well, just as surprised as Nozomi.

"Hey, are you two..." Umi asked. She was a little surprised, but not as much as the other two.

"Ahah...," Hanayo laughed, a little embarrassed. "Yes, we're starting to date now."

"Ah really? That's so cute!" Honoka exclaimed.

"Yeah, congratulations," Nico said.

"Thanks," Eri replied. "Really, it was with your help this happened after all."

"Huh?" Nico and Honoka asked together.

"We'll explain later," Eri replied. She sniffed the air. "Breakfast smells good."

"We just finished making it," Nico replied. "Come sit down."

Not having to wait to be told again, Hanayo and Eri made their way to their seats. As Nozomi watched, she had a thought, and she hoped she was wrong about it.

"Should we wait for the others?" Umi asked after a few minutes.

"Sorry to make you all wait," Kotori's voice came this time.

As they walked into the dining room, Nozomi realized she had been right. The rest of the room saw as Kotori led Maki into the room, their hands together as well. This time Umi was the one very surprised.

"K- Kotori-chan?"

"Could it be.. that you two are dating as well?" Honoka asked.

They made their way to their seats. "As a matter of fact, yes we are now," Kotori said smiling as they sat down.

"Ah, that's nice," Hanayo said. "Congratulations."

Nico and Maki's eyes met. They smiled a little awkwardly before turning away. Honoka and Kotori as well couldn't look at each other for too long. _"I have to talk to her after,"_ the four of them thought.

"Well then.. Let's eat," Eri said.

However, there wasn't much conversation. A tense, awkward feeling hung in the air as Muse ate silently. People occasionally looked around, but as soon as certain people met another's gaze, they both immediately went back to staring at their food. They continued this painful silence for the rest of breakfast. Eventually, they had finished breakfast. Everyone elected to return to their rooms after, and as they finished they went to their rooms. Kotori and Maki went to Kotori's, Eri and Hanayo in Eri's, Honoka and Nico in Honoka's. Nozomi had asked Umi and Rin to meet her in her room after breakfast, so the three of them were there.

Nozomi closed the door, and turned to her two crestfallen friends. She didn't have to guess why they were depressed. She was suffering from the same reason, as well. The ones they loved, love someone else. They stood in silence, Nozomi leaning against the door, and Umi and Rin on different sides of the bed.

"Who would've seen any of this coming..." Nozomi said, finally breaking the silence.

"It... it happened so suddenly..." Umi said sadly.

Rin slowly started crying. "How... how could she..."

Nozomi walked to where Rin sat on the bed. She sat down and pulled Rin into her arms trying to comfort her. Rin buried her face in Nozomi's shoulder.

"Why... I don't understand what's going on..." she sobbed.

"I don't know..." Nozomi said. She felt like crying as well, but she kept herself from crying for Rin's sake.

"Nozomi-chan, why does it hurt so much..."

"I'd imagine it would hurt for anyone to find out that their love is dating someone else.."

"It's not right..." Umi finally said. "It just doesn't seem right.."

"I know it feels that way, Umi-chan," Nozomi said. "But, we didn't really act on our feelings either. So we're partly to blame..." Though, she didn't want to admit that herself, she felt it would be better for all of them if she said it.

"Umi-chan, come here," Umi patted the spot next to her. Umi did as she was asked. When she sat down, Nozomi took her other arm and wrapped it around Umi. "So you don't feel lonely over there," Nozomi simply said.

In the silence that followed, Nozomi thought back to yesterday, when she made a prediction with her tarot cards. She knew it was coming true already. She clung to the hope that they will be able to love and be happy, like the last part predicted.

_"Love, huh..."_

Umi, who was sitting against Nozomi with her arm wrapped around her, suddenly moved. As Nozomi looked to see what Umi was doing, she found Umi's lips pressed against hers. Nozomi didn't move, both from surprise and because Rin was still on her other side. After the kiss, Umi sat back down, hugging Nozomi's arm and resting against her once again.

"U- Umi-chan?" Nozomi asked uncertainly.

"Please... please don't leave me too."

"Eh?"

"I'm.. I'm scared. Everything is happening so suddenly, I don't know what to do." Nozomi felt Umi's grip on her arm tighten. "Don't leave me alone.."

Nozomi was speechless. She couldn't find the words she needed. To even more surprise, Rin reached across Nozomi and took hold of one of Umi's hands.

"Don't worry, Umi-chan. She won't leave you alone. Neither of us will," Rin said firmly.

Umi's gaze landed on Rin. She intertwined her finger's with Rin's. "Thank you, Rin-chan," Umi said, smiling.

Rin smiled back. Like Umi, Rin hugged Nozomi's arm with her free arm, while she and Umi still held hands. Rin went up to kiss Nozomi's cheek before she sat down and rested against Nozomi's other side.

Nozomi didn't know what to make of what's been happening. She felt like she was in the way of her two kouhai's growing feelings for each other, yet it also feels like she was the center of their affection. Quite literally, as they both rested on her, yet both holding hands with each other.

_"Although, this isn't that bad.." _Nozomi thought.

She freed her arms from her kouhai, so she could wrap an arm around each of them and hug them close to her. The three of them sat there snuggled together on the bed. Maybe there was something for the three of them, after all.

* * *

**-Phew-! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Wow, quite a lot happened. Well I had planned on this being two or three chapters. But, they would've been a bit short, and well, I'm sure you guys just wanted to know the rest of the pairs in one chapter anyways. :P**

**So, like I said in the last chapter, I was going to use pairings that aren't as common for each character. And, I definitely didn't want a girl to be left out. Lily White shared a nice little moment at the end, didn't they? ;)**

**Now you've seen, the drama continued into this chapter. Feelings lost and realized, a lot of crying and comfort, and everyone acting or reacting. The messy results of a group of 9 girls that all love each other. Continuing from last chapter as well, I used one side of common pairings to basically set up these uncommon pairs. Or, I tried to hint that way at least. It was one of the ways I thought would make a lot of sense in these uncommon pairings forming for this story. Trust me I was kind of not looking forward to these chapters because of how much I had to make everyone cry or feel lost. Yet, I wanted to use these pairings and see if others thought this would work.**

**Yeah, it's a big chain reaction. Honoka feared being alone, and Nico went to comfort her, and the two fell in love. Well, Kotori and Eri both loved Honoka, and Maki loved Nico. However, Kotori thought she lost to Eri already, and gave up. So when Honoka and Nico were found out, Eri and Maki were the heartbroken ones. Kotori goes to Maki to comfort her since she could relate to her feelings, as well as having grown attracted to Maki. Hanayo was perceptive, and little lucky to catch Eri the night before. She's the one that goes to comfort Eri, and its revealed that she has feelings for Eri as well. Those two couples form. See the pattern? Yup! Umi liked Kotori, Rin liked Hanayo, and Nozomi liked Eri. Well, they're all taken now. Remember in the Lily White chapter, when Nozomi described them as similar in that they were inexperienced with love? Well, they end up comforting each other at the end there. See where that's going? ;)**

**Well, there you have it. I tried my best setting up hints to who liked who so that this chapter and all the pairings would work. I don't know how well that went though. I hope you guys can review or PM me and let me know what you guys thought of this chapter, and everything so far.**

**Well, now you know the pairings! And, the trio, I guess you can call it. So! Did you figure out the theme with the 3 couples? Look at the 3-way relationship, that's a huge hint!**

**This story is NOT over yet though! After all, we saw at breakfast, things aren't quite all happy yet. How will Muse get along with the series of heartbreaks and craziness that went on? And don't they have that Summer Single they wanted to work on?**

**I hope you'll stick around to find out. We've got a few more chapters left to go. Sorry these comments were long, but I wanted to clarify things in case anything was confusing. Also I felt I needed to justify things :x**

**Anyways, thank you for sticking around this long if you have. That's it from me, until next time~**


	13. Intermission: Forgiving & Accepting

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

[During Lily White's scene]

Honoka and Nico were in Honoka's room. They sat on the bed in each other's arms. They exchanged light pecks on the lips for a few minutes. Eventually, Nico broke off and said the thought they were both thinking.

"We.. we should probably talk to Kotori and Maki, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah.. we probably should..."

Though, Honoka didn't really want to go just yet. She pulled Nico closer for another kiss. Nico returned the kiss, though she sensed the meaning behind it.

"It'll be fine, Honoka-chan. You have nothing to worry about," she said as she caressed Honoka's cheek.

Honoka felt her nerves calm down. "You're right. Okay, let's go."

The two of them got up from the bed and walked into the hallway and toward Kotori's room.

[Kotori's room]

Kotori and Maki were spending some quality time as well. Kotori laid on top of Maki on the bed, hands held and fingers intertwined, as they shared a passionate kiss. They stayed this way for a while, then Kotori finally got off Maki.

"Kotori-chan?" Maki asked, a little disappointed they had to stop.

"Eheh, sorry Maki-chan." Kotori caught Maki's tone. "But, I think I need to talk to Honoka-chan."

"Eh? Why?"

"To clear up a few things. Don't you want to talk to Nico-chan as well?"

"Well..." Kotori gave her a serious look. "Y-yeah.. You're right."

Kotori smiled and gave Maki a kiss for her cute expression. "It'll be fine. Plus after breakfast, if we don't get everything off our chests, Muse might be in trouble."

"You're right, Kotori-chan. We can't let anything happen to Muse."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. A little startled, Kotori sat up and pulled Maki up from where they were laying. "Come in," Kotori called.

The door opened, and Honoka and Nico looked in.

"Is now a good time? We're not interrupting or anything are we?" Nico asked, noticing Kotori and Maki's hair and clothes were a little messy.

"It's fine, it's fine," Kotori answered. "Do you two need anything?"

"Actually, I'd like to speak to Maki-chan privately, if that's alright."

Kotori and Maki exchanged quick glances, before Kotori turned back. "That's alright. Actually, Honoka-chan, is it alright if we spoke privately as well?"

Honoka nodded. "We'll talk in my room."

Kotori got up to follow Honoka. Nico waited for Kotori to exit before she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"So.. what did you want to talk about?" Maki asked nervously.

"Well, actually I came to apologize," Nico answered, and she bowed to Maki.

"Apologize? For what?"

"Well.. to be honest.. I knew you had feelings for me.."

"O-oh.. really?" Maki was a little surprised.

"Yeah..." Nico started looking around the room. "I kind of got the feeling while we were working on the song for BiBi. And again during the study sessions."

"Oh.." Now it was Maki who looked away from Nico. "I.. I guess I was pretty obvious wasn't I?"

"I won't answer that," Nico said, feeling it'd be better that way. "And also, I didn't mean to cause you this kind of pain."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wasn't really sure of my feelings before. I was trying to figure out how I felt about you. But.. I caught Honoka-chan last night. She was in such pain, she was so afraid. I wanted to help her, to comfort her. But I realized, that it wasn't just because she was hurt. I realized that these feelings were actually of Love, and my want to protect her was because of that."

Maki just stared. She had no idea what happened last night between Honoka and Nico. "Oh..." she replied slowly. "I.. I had no idea Honoka-chan was upset..."

"Yeah.. well.. We haven't really got a chance to explain it to anyone yet... so that's also our fault." Nic scratched the back of her head. But then she looked firmly at Maki. "But still, it wasn't right for me to have done that while knowing about your feelings for me. I didn't mean to hurt you like this, and I'm really sorry, Maki-chan." Once more Nico bowed to Maki in apology.

"I- it's fine.." Maki said. She felt a little embarrassed now. "Thanks for letting me know, and for considering my feelings... And for being a good friend."

Nico looked up at that last part. For what she did, and what she put Maki through, that was the last thing she expected to see Nico as. She went up to Maki and gave her a hug.

"Thanks for still seeing me as a friend, Maki-chan."

Maki was a little surprised by the hug, since she was looking away. She returned the hug, and they stood like that for a little while.

[Honoka's room]

Honoka and Kotori stepped into the room and Honoka closed the door behind her. They stood there awkwardly for a minute, neither sure how to start. Finally, Kotori decided to start with a question that was burning in her mind.

"Honoka-chan, do you remember back when we did Snow Halation?" she asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Remember how when people were asking you if you liked someone, and you didn't give a straight answer?"

"Yes..." Honoka was realizing where this was going.

"Did you really like someone?"

Honoka stared at the floor. "Well... I did at the time. But as time went by I thought she liked someone else, so I stopped..."

That left one question. "Can I asked who you liked?"

Honoka looked up and met Kotori's eyes. "You."

Kotori was completely shocked by that answer. "Me?"

Honoka nodded. "Yes.. I used to like you, Kotori-chan. That's one of the reasons I wanted to form Printemps with you, because I wanted to be with you.. But..."

"But..?"

"You were spending a lot of time with the other girls. Especially Umi-chan. And I thought you guys were starting to like each other.."

Honoka's eyes returned to the floor.

"After Valentine's Day, and our single, it seemed like everyone else was getting along so well. Everyone had someone special they could spend time with. Except me. I started feeling lonely after that. But I didn't want to leave Muse or for Muse to fall apart, so I hid it all away. The time at the beach yesterday was too much, though. Seeing everyone like that again. Last night when I thought everyone was sleeping, I went onto the patio, to be alone so I could just cry. Nico-chan caught me, though. She comforted me, made the pain all go away. And she confessed to me."

Kotori had been frozen silent as Honoka was telling her story. "Fate is... cruel sometimes," she finally said with an ironic smile.

"Huh?"

"Well, after we spent so much time together for Printemps, I started liking you, Honoka-chan. But after some time, I noticed that Eri-chan started liking you, too. She was trying to spend a lot more time with you. I tried what I could, but in the end I thought I had lost. I thought you and Eri-chan would start liking each other."

"Eri-chan.. liked me?" Honoka asked.

"Yes, she did. I thought I had lost to her, and gave up trying to catch you. Around that time, I started to like Maki-chan. I thought it would be okay. But then yesterday, when we spent time alone together at the beach, it was painful. Not being able to have you yet spending alone time with you. Of course, then you and Nico-chan got together, and it gave me a chance to comfort and confess to Maki-chan."

Honoka took in what Kotori had just told her. "Fate really is cruel, isn't it?" she finally said.

They both suddenly started laughing. After a while, Honoka looked to Kotori.

"Kotori-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we can still be friends?"

"No, we can continue being best friends."

Honoka smiled, and she ran up to Kotori to give her a tight hug. Kotori hugged Honoka back.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through, Kotori-chan. Thanks for still wanting to be around."

"I'm sorry as well. For not knowing that you were hurting. I'll always be your best friend."

"Eheh. Hey, take good care of Maki-chan alright? She looked really hurt this morning."

"Wouldn't that be your fault?" Kotori giggled.

"Eheh," Honoka had no response.

"You as well, you enjoy your time with Nico-chan. If she hurts you in any way though she'll have to answer to me."

Honoka and Kotori held their hug for another minute. Eventually they both let go.

"We should get back to our girlfriends," Honoka said with a smile.

Kotori just smiled back and nodded. They left the room to head back to Kotori's room. In the hallway, the door to Eri's room opened, and Eri and Hanayo stepped outside. Both their hair was a little messy, and both Kotori and Honoka immediately realized that they were spending time like they had with their loves.

"Ah, Honoka-chan. Can we talk for a minute?" Eri asked.

Honoka was a little unsure at first, but remembered what Kotori had told her. "Sure," she called. Kotori went back to her room and Honoka went up to Eri and Hanayo. "So what's up?"

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you first," Eri said. "I-"

"You liked me before, right?" Honoka interrupted.

"Eh? You knew?"

"Well, no. I had to be told by Kotori-chan," Honoka answered honestly.

Eri looked at Hanayo. "Like I said, only Honoka was oblivious," Hanayo said.

"Eheh.." Honoka rubbed her head, slightly embarrassed. "Anyways, I'm sorry I was oblivious to your feelings, Eri-chan." Honoka bowed apologetically.

"Ah, it's alright," Eri said.

"Actually, I should thank you, Honoka-chan," Hanayo said.

"Eh? Why?" Honoka asked.

"Because you got together with Nico-chan. It helped give me enough courage to confess to Eri-chan."

"Ah, really?"

"Mhm! So, thank you Honoka-chan." Now Hanayo bowed.

"Eheh, I didn't really do much though," Honoka said shyly. "A-anyways. I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks, Honoka-chan," Eri said.

Nico came out of Kotori's room, immediately making her way to Honoka's side. "Ah, finally!" she said as she hugged Honoka's arm to her.

"Eheh. Did everything go well?" Honoka asked.

"Seems so. Looks like it was good between you and Kotori-chan as well."

"Yup! We're back to being best friends."

Just then, another door opened. Nozomi, Rin, and Umi stepped out and spotted the four in the hallway.

"Hi guys," Honoka called to the three of them.

"Hello, Honoka-chan," Nozomi answered as they got closer.

"Where's Kotori-chan?" Umi asked Honoka.

"In her room," she responded.

Umi thanked her then went toward Kotori's room.

"Eri-chi? Can we talk to you and Hanayo-chan?" Nozomi asked.

"Alright.." Eri answered.

Honoka and Nico decided to head back into Honoka's room quickly to give them privacy. Once they were in the room, Rin took Hanayo a little further down the hall to talk with her.

"So, how are you and Hanayo-chan?" Nozomi asked.

"We're fine," Eri answered, a little nervously. "You had something you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, I just want to know how it started first. You and Hanayo-chan."

"Well.. Hanayo-chan came to comfort me after finding out about Honoka-chan and Nico-chan."

"Comfort huh? Then... you did like Honoka-chan."

"Y-yeah..."

"I see..."

"Nozomi-chan... I'm sorry."

Nozomi raised an eyebrow. "For?"

"Well, you liked me, didn't you?"

"..You could tell?"

"Isn't that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Very perceptive of you, Eri-chi." Nozomi sighed. "Yes, I liked you. And it hurts that you turned and started dating Hanayo-chan."

"I know.. And I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of your feelings.. And I ended up hurting you..."

Nozomi walked up to Eri, and Eri looked away, unable to look at Nozomi. To her surprise, however, Nozomi flicked her forehead.

"Owe," Eri said, rubbing her head. "What was that for?"

"For being silly."

"Eh?"

"Eri-chi, I'm your best friend. If Hanayo-chan is making you happy, then I don't mind that you're dating her."

"N- Nozomi-chan..."

Nozomi went to hug Eri. She looked directly at Eri. "So don't apologize anymore, alright? I'll happily support you two as your best friend."

"Nozomi-chan..." Eri smiled and hugged Nozomi back. "But, what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I think I might have found to lovely girls for myself," Nozomi said, looking a little passed Eri at Rin as she talked to Hanayo.

"Two huh? Well, I hope you three will work out."

"Thank you, Eri-chi. And I hope you and Hanayo-chan last as well."

[Kotori's room]

After Nico had left the room, Kotori and Maki sat on the bed in each other's embrace once more. They spent a minute sharing a kiss before they heard knocking again.

"Again?" Maki asked.

"Eheh, oh you didn't want to stop?" Kotori teased.

"Kotori-chan..." Maki just blushed and held onto Kotori's arm.

"You're so cute Maki-chan," Kotori said and gave Maki another kiss. They both got up and made their way to the door again.

"Umi-chan.." Kotori said as she opened the door.

"H-hi, Kotori-chan, Maki-chan. Is it alright if I talk to you for a bit?" Umi asked.

"Sure. Do you mind, Maki-chan?" Kotori turned to Maki.

Maki shook her head. "Just hurry back," she said with a smile before disappearing back into the room.

"So.. did you want to talk about how you liked me?" Kotori asked directly.

"Yeah.." Umi replied slowly. "So you knew?"

"I had a feeling.. Anyways.." Kotori looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, Umi-chan. I know I hurt you really badly... And I have no excuse for what I've done."

Kotori looked back up to Umi, only to see Umi smiling.

"Kotori-chan, sometimes you're kind to a fault."

"Huh?"

"I know you didn't try to hurt me or anything. Yes, I did like you, and it was hard finding out that you and Maki-chan started dating. But I won't hold it against you. I'll be able to move on. We're best friends after all. If you're happy, I'm happy."

"... and you call me too kind," Kotori said, though she smiled. "Thank you, Umi-chan."

Umi and Kotori hugged each other. After, Kotori went back into her room and Umi made her way to Nozomi and Eri. She reached them as they finished their conversation.

"Ah, here's the other one," Nozomi said cheerfully as Umi took one of Nozomi's arms.

Eventually Rin and Hanayo made their way over, having also cleared any misunderstandings and made up with each other. Kotori and Maki also appeared in the hallway and joined the other girls. Finally, Honoka and Nico came out of the room.

"Everyone seems better now," Honoka said, smiling. The other girls nodded or smiled back.

"Great," Nico said. "So, about our summer single.."

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Hope this chapter was ok. After the last two chapters, we needed a calmer chapter. A little cheesy, but Muse eventually made up with each other, so things can go forward :3 All's well that ends well.**

**Speaking of the end though. We're a few chapters from the end :o PV3 is next followed by two more chapters. I hope you'll stick around till the end.**

**Well, that's it from me, until next time~**


	14. Natsurio Egao de 1,2,Jump!

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

The next few days, Muse actually got to enjoy their vacation. With the events of the first two days resolved, the girls felt even closer than before. They spent the days having fun on the beach and in the ocean, and some nice quality time in the rooms.

The day they agreed to start work on their next single came. They gathered in the living room.

"So, I've got some ideas for the lyrics," Nico said. Honoka sat on the floor, but resting against the couch. Nico sat in Honoka's lap and wrapped by Honoka's arms.

"Let me guess, is it about love?" Nozomi asked playfully. She along with Umi and Rin sat together on the floor against the couch opposite of Honoka and Nico.

"No silly. It's summer, so it has to be about fun during summer vacation!"

"Eh? I was completely expecting Nico-chan to say it was about love," Kotori said jokingly as she exaggerated a shocked face. She and Maki sat on the floor between the two couches, similar to how Honoka and Nico were sitting.

"Maybe it's because you wanted it to be about love?" Honoka matched Kotori's joking tone. The room laughed at the exchange.

"I think it'll be a nice change of pace," Eri said. She and Hanayo sat together on the floor between the couches as well but opposite end to Kotori and Maki.

Hanayo nodded. "I think some variety every now and then is good for us."

"Yeah, that's true," Maki said.

"Let's give it a try then!" Rin said enthusiastically.

"Alright. Maki-chan, mind if we help with the lyrics this time?" Nico asked for her and Honoka.

"Sure, I don't mind," Maki answered. "If you have ideas already then it'll be a big help."

"Hey, we might have a problem though," Kotori said. The others looked at her a little surprised.

"Problem? With what?" Eri asked.

"Well, we don't have our sewing machines from school," Kotori explained. "So, we won't be able to make anything for the costumes."

"Don't worry, we can work around that," Umi said easily.

"Yeah, we didn't know how to sew, so we just put things together for our outfits," Nozomi said.

"That's right. Hey, we could help you with the costumes if you'd like," Rin said.

"Ah, that'd be great," Kotori smiled.

"Guess we'll work on the choreography," Hanayo said.

"I'd like to help you two with that, if you don't mind," Nozomi told them.

"Of course. Should go more smoothly with more people helping." Eri said.

"Looks like we all got our jobs," Honoka said. "So, let's get to it!"

With the tasks assigned, the girls broke off to begin working. Honoka, Maki, and Nico went to Maki's room to start on the lyrics. Eri, Nozomi, and Hanayo went to the patio to start on the choreography. Kotori, Umi, and Rin wandered around the house trying to find anything they might be able to use for the costumes. As the day ended, however, they came up empty-handed. The three of them met back in the living room.

"Any luck?" Kotori asked. Umi and Rin shook their heads. "Uwa.. what are we going to do?"

As the three sat thinking, Maki walked through the living room on her way to the kitchen.

"Ah, Maki-chan!" Rin called.

Maki came over. "Yes? Need something?"

"Is there any kind of shopping center nearby?"

"Shopping center? Mm... I don't think so.."

The three let out a defeated sigh.

"Although..."

Rin instantly perked up. "Although?" She moved closer to Maki, startling her a bit.

"Rin-chan," Umi reached for Rin to calm her down.

"Eheh, sorry."

"Anyways.." Maki continued. "There might be some stores in the nearby amusement park you could look through."

"There's an amusement park nearby?" Umi asked.

Maki nodded. "I'd have to call and arrange rides, but it's close enough if we need it."

"Is it possible to go there tomorrow?" Kotori asked.

Maki nodded. "Do you need to go tomorrow?"

"Well, the sooner the better."

"Alright. I'll arrange it tonight."

"Thanks, Maki-chan," Kotori walked up and gave Maki a kiss and a hug.

"N-no problem. I should probably get the lyrics done by tonight then. I want to come with you three tomorrow."

"Oh, like a date? Sounds fun!" Rin said excitedly.

"No, Rin-chan," Umi tried calming Rin down again. "We're going there to work remember? We need to find stuff we might be able to use for costumes."

"Aww.. next time?"

"Sure, next time." Umi patted Rin's head. Rin imitated a pur.

Kotori smiled at the two. Then she turned back to Maki, who she was still holding.

"Speaking of which, what were you doing?"

"Getting some water. And I needed a little air."

"Why?"

"Honoka-chan and Nico-chan wanted a break. And they were getting a bit distracted."

"Oh.." Umi said, realizing something. "So, did you need some air, or were you just missing Kotori-chan?"

Maki's face turned a little red, and the other three immediately knew her answer.

"Aww, Maki-chan you're so cute!" Kotori tightened her hug on Maki. Maki's face only grew more red.

"Ah, Maki-chan!"

The four turned to see Honoka at the hallway entrance, waving over. Honoka caught Kotori and Maki's tight hug.

"Hurry back soon! Nico-chan has some ideas for the final part ready." With that, Honoka turned around and headed back down the hallway.

Kotori felt Maki's grip on her tighten a little. She smiled, then turned to Umi and Rin. "Well, I guess that does it for today?"

"Yeah, we can't do much else until tomorrow," Umi answered.

"Alright." She turned to Maki. "Would you like if I came back with you then?"

Maki simply nodded. "Hehe, alright. Good night, you two," she said to Umi and Rin.

"Good night," they wished together.

Umi and Rin went to the patio to call Nozomi, Eri, and Hanayo back into the house. Maki and Kotori went to Maki's room to rejoin Honoka and Nico. They managed to finish the lyrics before going to bed.

* * *

The next day Umi, Rin, Kotori, and Maki were picked up and taken to the nearby amusement park. Nozomi, Eri, and Hanayo continued with the choreography. Honoka and Nico started working on the music.

The four eventually reached the park. While they didn't go into it, they headed for its stores located near the gates. They started going through the shops.

"What do you think about this?" Umi asked, pulling something from one of the racks.

Kotori came over to look. "Mm.. Well it's nice but I don't think it would work for dancing."

Maki pulled a shirt off a different rack. "What about this?"

"Would you want to be seen in that?"

Maki looked back at the shirt, which had a strange pattern designed across it. "..You're right." She put it back.

Rin pulled a purple swimsuit off another rack, then rushed over to Umi. "Hey, Umi-chan, don't you think this looks cute?"

Umi turned to look. "Yeah, it looks pretty."

"Right? You should try it on!"

"Eh?! Why me?"

"Because, I thought you would look good in it," Rin said sweetly.

"Rin-chan, we're not here for ourselves," Maki reminded her.

"Wait, actually..." Kotori got closer to look at the swimsuit. She noticed the transparent strip that decorated the bottom of both parts of the swimsuit.

"Kotori-chan?" Umi asked.

"Try it on," Kotori said simply.

"Eh?"

"The swimsuit, try it on."

A little reluctantly, Umi did as she was asked. She found a nearby changing room and put on the swimsuit. She stepped back out for the others to see.

"Hmm... Rin-chan, where did you get this?"

"Over there."

Rin pointed to the rack she found the swimsuit. Kotori hurried over, pulled another swimsuit and returned to the others, handing it over to Maki.

"Eh, wait-" Maki said, realizing what was about to happen.

"Please?" Kotori asked sweetly.

"A- alright.."

Like Umi, Maki went to the changing room and put the swimsuit on. Hers was pink with purple stripes and a transparent pink decoration on its ends. Umi and Maki stood a little embarrassed as Kotori looked over them.

Rin was enjoying the view quite a bit. She hid her smile though, and asked Kotori, "So?"

Kotori gave it some last thoughts. "So, how would you feel about dancing in swimsuits?" she asked her two models.

"W-wait, are we actually getting these?" Umi asked nervously.

Kotori gave Umi a look, then turned to Maki. "Maki-chan?"

"I.. guess it would be fine.." Maki's face turned a little redder.

"Rin-chan?"

"I probably can't pull off that look. But I think swimsuits make sense for a summer song."

Kotori clapped her hands together. "Great! Okay, you two can change back now. But keep those, those will be your outfits. Come on, Rin-chan."

Satisfied, Rin and Kotori went back to the rack to find more decorative swimsuits for the rest of Muse. Umi and Maki happily changed back out of the swimsuits. They managed to find something for everyone, and bought the nine swimsuits. They returned to the beach house by lunch time.

"Tadaima!" they called out as they entered.

"Okaeri." Nozomi appeared from the hallway in an apron. "Just in time. Lunch is ready."

Rin sniffed the air. "Ah, smells good."

"Thanks, I made lunch today," Nozomi said with a smile. Then she noticed the bags. "What did you girls buy?"

"Swimsuits," Maki replied.

"Swimsuits?"

"They'll be our outfits for the next single," Kotori explained. "We'll have you all try it on after lunch."

All of Muse gathered for lunch. While the four were gone, Honoka and Nico made decent progress with the music, getting about a quarter of it done. Hanayo, Eri, and Nozomi had a bit better time, with about a third of the choreography done. Once everyone was done, Kotori handed everyone their swimsuit and asked them to try it on. The girls went to change and met back in the living room.

"Ah, these are so cute!" Honoka exclaimed.

Honoka and Nico were the first back out. They wore similar swimsuits. Honoka's was orange with yellow stripes, transparent pink decoration, and a yellow jacket. Nico's was light green with darker green stripes. Both wore a pink flower on a necklace as well as in their hair. Honoka's was on her headband while Nico's was on one of her hair ties.

Kotori smiled. "Glad you like them."

One by one the other Muse came back out to the living room. Nozomi's swimsuit was similar to Umi's, but was lavender, as well as wearing a bandana. Eri's swimsuit was light blue and Hanayo's were shades of pink. Eri also wore a bandana, while Hanayo wore a bow. Kotori and Rin's swimsuits were similar, green and red, respectively. Though Kotori wore a flower in her hair while Rin had a cap on. Maki and Umi wore what they tried earlier, but with glasses and a headband with flowers, respectively.

Kotori looked around, and clapped her hands together happily. "Wonderful. I think this will work nicely for the song."

"We.. are going to dance in swimsuits?" Hanayo asked. Her face was a light shade of red.

"I don't know why you sound so embarrassed, after we dressed as maids," Nico said.

"Well, yeah but-"

Eri just hugged Hanayo from behind, and she calmed down a bit.

"Anyway, I think they're great. So let's get back to work, yeah?"

With that, the girls went back to working on the song, though they didn't change back into their house clothes. Maki, Kotori, Honoka, and Nico returned to Maki's room to work on the music. The rest of the girls went to work on the choreography.

"Not bad so far," Maki said, going through what Honoka and Nico have worked on so far.

"Thanks. It's a lot harder than I thought," Nico said.

"Well, what ideas did you have?"

While Nico and Maki started on the music, Honoka and Kotori were a little back from the two.

"So, how was the amusement park?" Honoka asked.

"It looks promising," Kotori answered. "We should all go there after we're done with this song."

"Oh, sounds fun. Amusement park for a first date. I can't wait."

"Hey," Nico called at them from the desk. "Come on you two, help us out here."

Honoka and Kotori giggled and joined Nico and Maki at the desk and got to work.

They continued their work for the next few days. After three days, both the choreography and the music were finished. For the next two days, they all practiced the vocals. The next few days after that they practiced the choreography and slowly worked in the lyrics. During dinner one night, Eri brought up a question that's been bothering her.

"So, where exactly are we going to shoot the music video?" she asked the rest of Muse.

"Mm? What do you mean?" Honoka asked.

"Well, I don't suppose dancing on the beach is exactly easy," Umi thought.

"You have a point.." Maki realized.

"Then what should we do?" Rin asked.

"Do you think.. we could go to that amusement park?" Nico asked. The others looked to her.

"Where did this come from all of a sudden?" Eri asked.

"If we get permission.. we could perform in the park, right?" Kotori asked Nico.

"Yeah! That'd be perfect since we also got the swimsuits from there." Nico explained.

"Could we really do that?" Eri asked to Maki.

"I won't make any promises," Maki said.

"There's no way to guarantee it, right?" Nozomi asked. Maki nodded.

"We'll go tomorrow and ask then," Honoka decided. "It's worth a shot."

"I guess that's settles that then," Eri said.

"Yup, no way to argue now," Umi agreed. The other girls also nodded.

"Eheh..." Honoka scratched her head, knowing their joke already.

* * *

The next day, Maki once again arranged transportation for them. This time only she and Honoka went to try and ask for permission. To their surprise, they easily got permission, as the park director and his family are big Muse fans. They could get the park to themselves tomorrow for filming purposes only. With that taken care of, the two of them returned to the house and Muse took the rest of the day to practice.

The next day the nine of them entered the amusement park and were guided to a stage set up for them. The stage itself was simple, but it was cleverly placed to show off the rides and big Ferris wheel in the background.

"W-wow," Rin just kept looking around.

"Yeah.. I think this will work," Eri said.

Muse spent all day recording. As it started getting late, they had to ask for more time for filming. They were allowed to stay during the night, but on the condition that they had to be supervised. They filmed into the night, and gathered a good amount of film. They thanked the director and eventually left the amusement park. Not without getting free tickets from the director, of course. Tired from filming, the girls immediately went to sleep once they got home. They held a meeting the next morning.

"So, how are we going to fill the rest of the video?" Hanayo asked.

"Should we try dancing on the beach?" Umi asked.

"We might have to," Maki said.

"Do we have any footage from earlier in the vacation we could use?" Rin asked.

"We might," Nozomi answered. "I don't know how much of what I have is usable though. Anyone else?"

"I might have a few things," Kotori said.

"Let's go over them and see," Eri suggested.

They spent time going backwards through their cameras. They picked out a lot of clips they could use. The rest of the day they went through all their clips and putting the music video together. They managed to finish putting the video together by the next morning. They each went through the video for any last minute opinions. Satisfied, they finally published their new single, "Natsuiro Egao de 1,2,Jump!" It was uploaded to their site, and Muse proceeded to spend the rest of the day resting. Honoka also announced they'll be going back to the amusement park in a few days. It's never too early have a date at the amusement park, after all.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Nice, easy chapter as Muse puts together PV3. And they even score tickets to the amusement park. Guess what's coming up next chapter ;) I'll do my best on that. Cliché alerts?**

**Thanks so much to the people that stuck around. Hope you've been enjoying so far.**

**That's it from me, until next time~**


	15. Intermission: Dates

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

It's been a few days since they released their single, "Natusiro Egao de 1,2,Jump!" Now, Muse is heading to the amusement park as they planned, for their dates. They somehow got through the entrance with little difficulty and no one figuring them out. They agreed to meet back at a spot by the entrance by a certain time, and headed in all different directions. Everyone had different ideas where to start.

For Rin, Nozomi, and Umi, they immediately went for some of the bigger roller coasters first. Rin was the most excited, and quickly led Umi and Nozomi between the rides, trying not to waste any time. They had rode about four rides by the afternoon, and were on their way to another.

"Come on!" Rin said, pulling along Umi and Nozomi in each hand.

"Rin-chan, wait!" Nozomi called.

Rin stopped and turned. "What?"

Nozomi pointed to Umi, who was a little out of breath. "Let's give Umi-chan a break."

Rin noticed something about Umi. She took a few steps to Umi. "Umi-chan, are you okay? You look a little.. sick."

"Have I ever... told you.. I'm not a fan.. of roller coasters? " Umi said between breaths.

"Eh? Really?" Rin asked, surprised.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Nozomi asked, supporting Umi.

"I didn't.. want to stop you two. And it wasn't that bad at first. Until that last ride."

"Umi-chan, you still shouldn't force yourself like that," Rin said. "If you're not having fun, then it's not fun for us, either."

"Rin-chan is right," Nozomi said. "Your happiness is important as well."

"You two.." Umi smiled. "Alright. Thank you both."

The three exchanged smiles. Nozomi looked at her wristwatch. "Hmm, I say it's time we took a break to eat."

The other two nodded. Umi pulled out a map of the park. "Hmm.. we should be about here.." she said, pointed to a spot on the map, "so we should head in that direction."

She folded the map and the three of them started walking where Umi had pointed. As they were walking, they passed by the game area. Rin had looked over, and she started slowing down.

"Rin-chan?" Umi said, noticing that Rin was falling behind. She walked back toward her, following Rin's gaze. "Something catch your eye?"

"Look at that prize," Rin said, pointed to one of the game stalls. Hanging from the prizes were some giant stuffed animals. Rin was pointing to some of the tigers.

Umi looked at which game the stall was. She smiled. "Would you like me to win it for you?"

"Eh? Can you?" Rin asked.

"No problem. Give me a minute.

Umi walked over to the stall. Rin looked at Nozomi, who gave her an amused look, and they both followed. Umi paid for a game, and took the ball in her hand. She looked down the range. There were ten bottles stacked into a pyramid about fifteen meters away. Umi considered the best spot to hit it.

"Anytime you're ready," the man managing the game said. Nozomi saw the look on his face. He was probably convinced she wouldn't get it.

"Umi-chan," Nozomi said, a bit concerned. "I know you practice archery and all, but wouldn't this be different?"

"You're right," Umi said, not looking back. "It's a lot simpler."

In one fluid motion, Umi wound up and threw the ball. She hit the bottles a little off-center and between the bottom two rows, and all ten bottles fell. The man's face was just as shocked as Rin and Nozomi's. Umi turned back to the man with a smile.

"So, about my prize."

"A-ah right. Pick any you would like.." The man was probably making a note not to cross Umi, Nozomi thought.

Umi pointed to the tiger Rin had pointed to earlier, and the man retrieved it for her. She turned and handed it to Rin, who recovered from the shock and hugged the giant stuffed tiger.

"Thank you, Umi-chan!" Rin said very happily.

"You're welcome," Umi smiled back. Then she turned to Nozomi. "Would you like anything while we're here?"

"Mm? Well.." She looked at the other prizes hanging around. "That wolf looks nice."

Umi nodded, then turned back to the man. "One more game, please."

Just like before, Umi knocked the stack down without a problem. She got the wolf and gave it to Nozomi.

"Remind me not to forget any anniversary," Nozomi said to Rin, making the three of them laugh.

With that out of the way, the three continued to the area with all the food. They got their orders and sat down at one of the tables and began eating. Sitting next between them were Nozomi and Rin's new giant stuffed animals.

"So, Nozomi-chan, why the wolf?" Rin asked as she took another bite.

"I'm not too sure myself." Nozomi said, poking at her stuffed animal. "Just felt like asking for a wolf."

"And here I thought there was some deep and meaningful back-story to it all," Umi said jokingly.

"What if I said it was because it reminds me of you?" Nozomi asked playfully.

Umi sipped her drink as she considered the question. "Well, it would make a great hunting partner."

The three of them laughed again and continued to eat. They sat there for a few minutes after finishing, to let themselves rest. Nozomi noticed some people were starting to look over, a lot.

"Ah, look mommy!" came a child's voice, and the three of them turned to look. They found the little girl was pointing at them. "Mommy look! It's the girls from Muse!"

If only a few people gave them looks before, now they had a whole lot more. More and more people started to look over and recognize them, and started making their way over. Within seconds there was a crowd around them.

"Ah, it is them!" a man shouted.

"It's Rin, Umi, and Nozomi!" another shouted.

_"Oh dear.."_ Nozomi thought.

"Hey, aren't they also Muse's mini-unit, Lily White?!" a woman somewhere in the crowd shouted.

There was some noise of confirmation, followed by many people shouting for autographs on various things.

_What should we do? _Rin seemingly asked.

Nozomi had an idea from what that woman just shouted. She stood up and clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone!" she said once the crowd had calmed down. "I'm glad to know there are a lot of Muse fans here. And I'm glad some even recognized us as Lily White. So, how would you all like a song from us?"

There was a cheer from the crowd, and they moved away to give some space. Some even moved the tables.

"Nozomi-chan," Rin called quietly. "Are you sure?"

"Are we singing our single again?" Umi asked.

She turned to them. "I'm sure it'll be fine. They gave us permission to film here after all. And no, we can sing the other song we were working on before, remember?"

"But, we don't have music," Rin said.

"I don't think we have any other choice," Umi said. The crowd finally quieted down after moving the tables.

"We'll be fine," Nozomi assured them. She turned to address the crowd again. "Is everyone ready?"

The crowd cheered. Nozomi waited for them to quiet down again.

"Alright. We're going to sing a song not released yet by Lily White. Please listen to "_Ano ne Ganbare!_"

* * *

Like the trio, Honoka and Nico had started on the bigger roller coasters, though they went in a different order than the others did. They had a bit better luck with the lines, and had gotten off their fourth ride before the other three got on theirs. They walked arm in arm on their way to the next ride.

"This is a great amusement park," Nico said, looking around.

"Yeah, all the rides are great!" Honoka said happily.

As they continued walking, Nico noticed something.

"Honoka-chan, look," she said, pointing to a nearby sign.

Honoka looked to where Nico was pointing. Her eyes lit up. "A water park!"

"Come on, let's go!" Nico said.

They rushed into the water area and started playing. They ran through a water course and picked up some water guns. They played for a while before Honoka realized something.

"Hey, Nico-chan!" she called, motioning her to come closer.

Nico stopped running and went up to Honoka. "What?"

"Nico-chan.. what are we going to do about our clothes?"

They stared at each other as Nico realized Honoka's point. Not exactly their best idea.

"Ah.. uhm..." Nico looked around. "Well, how about we find towels and dry off for now."

They walked nearby and grabbed some towels. They did their best to dry off their clothes.

Honoka saw a nearby shop. "Hey, Nico-chan."

Nico looked up, and saw Honoka pointing to the shop. "Ah, we could buy some extra clothes."

Honoka nodded. "And a bag too, unless you want to carry clothes the rest of the day."

They put down the water guns they had and finished drying up as best they could. Then they made their way over to the nearby shop. They bought a shirt of the theme park and shorts for each of them.

"Well, at least we match now," Honoka said as they walked out.

"Yeah, but that came out of the money we were using for food," Nico said as she put away her wallet. "We only have enough for one person."

"That's fine, isn't it?" Honoka asked. "I mean, we'll just share."

"I suppose. If we combine what we have left we can probably get a big meal to share."

"Then let's go!"

The two of them took each other's hand again and went to go find food. As they got nearer, they heard what sounded like singing.

"Hey, Honoka-chan, do you hear that?" Nico asked.

"Yeah... doesn't it sound familiar?"

"Eh? What's with this crowd?" Nico asked as they turned a corner.

"Ah.. I can't see from here. Let's get closer."

They made their way through the crowd, not letting go of each other's hands. The song finished as they reached the center.

"Ah, hey-" Honoka started, recognizing Rin, Umi, and Nozomi.

The crowd started cheering and applauding. The three of them broke their pose, and Rin noticed Nico and Honoka. She waved to them. Of course, someone immediately noticed.

"Ah look everyone! It's Honoka!"

"And Nico too!"

Honoka and Nico froze, realizing what was going on. Umi and Nozomi acted fast, pulling them from the crowd to join them.

"Sorry about that," Rin said, laughing a little.

"What's going on here?" Nico asked.

"Well, as you can see..." Umi started.

"We were recognized," Nozomi finished.

"So was that you three singing?" Honoka asked.

"Yup," Nozomi answered. "New song, how do you like it?"

"Well it sounded nice, but we didn't get to see the dance," Nico said. "We arrived as you finished."

"That's good enough," Umi said.

"Hey, do another song!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Nozomi looked to the four of them. "I don't have anything else prepared."

"W-what are we going to do?" Umi asked.

"Hmm..." Honoka remembered something. "Rin-chan, remember that duet we were working on the other day?"

"The duet?" Rin asked. Then she remembered. "Oh yeah! Wait, you want to sing it now?"

"Well, does anyone else have an idea?"

The others shook their heads.

"See? Besides, we'll get a chance to test it, just like you three just did."

"I don't see a harm in trying," Nico said.

Nozomi nodded. "Only if you two want to."

"Sure, let's do it," Rin said. "I don't think they'll give us much of a choice, anyway."

With that, Umi, Nozomi, and Nico stepped away from the center and left Rin and Honoka there. Honoka called out to the crowd.

"Are you all ready for the next song?"

Another cheer went around.

"Alright! This song somewhat follows our other song that was released alongside "Natusiro Egao de 1,2,Jump!" Please listen to "Mermaid Festa Volume 2"!

* * *

For Kotori and Maki, they rode three coasters before deciding neither really wanted to try another. Along the way, though, Kotori had stopped to take pictures of the two of them at different spots she thought looked lovely. They just asked another person if she could take a picture of them at one of these spots.

"Thank you!" Kotori waved as she and Maki continued walking. She showed Maki the picture.

"That's a really nice picture," Maki commented.

"Right?" Kotori said happily.

"The backgrounds do seem fitting."

"Yup! Though, those aren't my favorite parts."

"Oh, then what is?"

"Isn't it obvious? They're all with you, silly!" Kotori hugged Maki as they walked.

Maki's face turned a bit red, but she smiled. "Well, my favorite part of the pictures is you."

"Eheh, Maki-chan.."

Kotori stopped Maki and gave her a kiss. Once they pulled away, Kotori noticed something over Maki's shoulder.

"Hey, Maki-chan, look."

Maki turned around to see what Kotori was pointing at. She saw the entrance to..

"The Tunnel of Love," Maki read. "Did you want to go?"

"Mhm! Is that okay with you?" Kotori asked.

"Of course."

Hand in hand, Kotori and Maki made their way to the entrance, got in line and eventually got on the ride. They enjoyed the ride, or they enjoyed each other's company as well as their lips during the ride.

* * *

Eri was surprised that Hanayo wanted to try riding some roller coasters. They only went on two, though, which both were completely fine with. Eri could've gone on one more ride, but there was something else they could spend their time on.

"Come on," Eri said, pulling along Hanayo.

"Eri-chan, can you tell me where it is we're going?" she asked, having a little trouble keeping up.

"Just wait, you'll see."

Eri continued to pull Hanayo along. Eventually they entered the building Eri was looking for. Eri led Hanayo through a few doors and eventually they entered a fairly large hall. Eri found some seats for them and they sat down. Hanayo looked around. There was a lot of seats arranged in a half-circle. There was a big tank of water that occupied the other part of the room. The arrangement was similar to an auditorium.

"Eri-chan.. where are we?"

Finally, Eri pulled out a little pamphlet, and handed it to Hanayo. Hanayo took the pamphlet and read the front of it, and looked back to Eri, surprised.

"I know you enjoy taking care of the animals back at school. So I looked into the park and found they have this marine life show. I thought you'd like it better than trying to go on more roller coasters."

"Eri-chan.." Hanayo reached over the arm rest between their chairs to give Eri a tight hug. "Thank you so much!"

They sat for the entire show. Occasionally Eri looked over to Hanayo, who could not take her eyes away from the show. She also never let go of Eri's hand. They got to see the animals do the usual tricks, and even got to get up close to see some of the rare animals that were there at the park. After some time, the show finally ended.

"That was amazing!" Hanayo said excitedly as they walked out of the building.

"I'm glad you liked it," Eri said, smiling.

"Eheh." Hanayo held Eri's arm tightly.

Eri felt something in her stomach. "Ah.. I think we should get something to eat."

"Ah, you're probably right."

They checked a map and made their way to get food. Along the way, they passed by a certain ride, and Hanayo noticed something.

"Eri-chan, look over there."

Eri followed where Hanayo pointed, and recognized two girls.

"Ah, Maki-chan! Kotori-chan!" she called out.

Kotori and Maki, who just exited their ride, looked over after hearing their name called. They found Eri and Hanayo and hurried over.

"Hi you two!" Kotori said happily as they got closer.

"Tunnel of Love?" Eri asked amused.

"H-hey.. it wasn't that bad.." Maki said.

"Oh? So what did you like about it?"

Neither answered, as neither of them actually remembered the ride itself. They were a little busy with other things.

"A-anyway," Kotori said, "you two should go in too."

"Oh, can we?" Hanayo asked Eri.

"Sure, but maybe later," Eri answered. Then she turned to Kotori and Maki. "Want to come and get something to eat with us?

"That'd be nice," Kotori said. "We were going to get something to eat, as well."

Together, the four of them walked over to the food area. On the way they talked about what they have been doing up until this point. As they arrived, they noticed the crowd, and heard the singing of two familiar voices. They made their way through the crowd, and saw Honoka and Rin finishing up "Mermaid Festa volume 2."

Nico noticed the other four, and nudged Nozomi. "Hey, look."

Nozomi looked over and noticed as well. "Uh oh. Let's hurry."

Quickly Nozomi, Nico, and Umi hurried over to retrieve the other four before enough of the crowd noticed them.

"H-hey, what's going on?" Eri asked Nozomi as they reached the center.

"Look, it's the rest of Muse!" a voice shouted.

"I think that answers your question," Nozomi said.

Rin and Honoka joined them. "Thank goodness you all are here .. " Rin said, panting.

"Are you okay, Rin-chan?" Hanayo asked.

"She's a little tired," Umi explained. "Performed back to back."

"What do we do?" Honoka asked. "Rin-chan needs to rest and I don't think they're leaving us alone yet."

"Should we perform?" Kotori asked, more to Hanayo and Honoka.

"If Honoka-chan is okay with it," Hanayo said.

"I can do another song or two," Honoka said. "I kind of hope they'd leave us alone though."

"That's surprising to hear from you," Eri said.

"I kind of agree," Maki admitted. "I mean, we are on vacation after all."

They quickly worked out a set of songs. Printemps performed "Love Marginal" and "sweet&sweet holiday". BiBi sung "Love Novels", which like "Ano ne Ganbare" only had its lyrics done. Muse performed their latest single. By this point, the girls remembered they still haven't eaten. Eventually Eri, Nozomi, and Umi got the crowd to disperse to let them eat.

"Uwah.. Finally.." Honoka said as she plopped onto a chair.

"Next time, we're wearing disguises.." Maki said, relieved to sit down.

Rin and Hanayo both nodded in agreement. Nozomi laughed a little. Eventually Nico, Eri, and Kotori returned with food. Each couple shared their late lunch.

"Well, since we're all together anyway, should we just spend the rest of today together?" Honoka asked.

"Maybe, but we should probably leave soon. Before anything else happens," Nozomi suggested.

Everyone else agreed. Honoka, Nico, Rin, Eri, and Nozomi rode a few more coasters while the other four followed to each ride. After they were nearly discovered again, they all decided to leave the park. Quite the busy day, but hey, the tickets were free at least.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Sumimasen, minna-san! [I'm so sorry everyone]**

**This chapter is soo late T.T I originally had planned on a day or two break after my last chapter before I wrote this. I originally had a date chapter planned out differently, without the amusement park. But because of the change in the last chapter, I had to make it work for this. And I had a horrible time figuring out how I wanted the chapter to go. Finally though, I got something that seemed like it would work.**

**Special shout-outs to my friend for helping me out with most of the ideas for each couple in this chapter. **

**Well, with this, we have one last chapter left to go. Hope you've enjoyed so far.**

**That's it from me, until next time~**


	16. Three Years Later

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

Otonokizaka High School. Three years ago, this school was in danger of being closed down from a lack of applications. That year, a trio of second-year students started an idol group in an attempt to save the school. After a few struggles and differences, they eventually reached nine members, and are now know as Muse. Muse went through more struggles as they set off to become a successful idol group. Their hopes was that it'll help bring more applications to keep their school from shutting down.

Three years later, the amount of attention the school got because of them was much more than any of them would have ever guessed. Before the youngest of the members had graduated, they helped established a separate club that did vocal exercises. It doubled as a fan club, following Muse's various concerts, interviews, and live events. Two of this club's last original club members, though not immediately part of Muse, are now third-years. They are fairly popular among the school's students as well, due to their personal connection with Muse.

Right now it's a typical Friday at Otonokizaka. The sound of many students singing could be heard through some of the halls. And, also commonly, the sound of a single person clapping to quiet them down so she can talk.

"Alright, settle down, settle down!" the girl called out from the front of the room. Once the room quieted down, she began again. "So, you now know how the parts sound. Take home your music over the weekend to practice. Any questions?"

One of the girls raised their hands. "Ah, yes! Kousaka-senpai.."

Kousaka Yukiho looked to the girl with an eyebrow raised. Yukiho is the club's president, mostly because of her older sister and Muse's center, Kousaka Honoka. Yukiho herself made for a pretty good leader as well as singer, which was why Honoka asked her to lead the club. She nodded to the girl who raised her hand.

"Do.. do we have a certain amount of practice hours again this weekend?" the first-year student asked shyly.

"No, you don't," came a voice from behind Yukiho. "Remember that Muse is performing their new single live on TV tonight, so you'll definitely want to watch that."

The voice belonged to Ayase Arisa, the younger sister of Ayase Eri, Muse's physical trainer and choreographer. Like Yukiho, Arisa was asked by her sister to help with the club. While Yukiho lead the basic vocal lessons, Arisa played the piano. While not a virtuoso like Nishikino Maki, Muse's composer, Arisa learned enough to play along with the lessons. She stood up from the piano to join Yukiho in front of the room.

"That's right," Yukiho said. "But please practice. I might check on progress on Monday."

There was a chatter among the club members after that. Yukiho clapped her hands again.

"Alright, alright. That's it for today. You're all free to go."

The other girls all got their things together, said their goodbyes to Yukiho and Arisa, and left for home. Yukiho and Arisa stayed behind to tidy up the room. Yukiho sat on top of a desk once they finished.

"Ah.." she sighed, "it's finally Friday.."

Arisa giggled. She walked to Yukiho and wrapped her arms around her. "Tired?"

Yukiho looked back up to Arisa. "Yeah.. it's been a long week."

"Eheh. Well, thank you for your hard work," Arisa said before she kissed Yukiho on the lips.

Yukiho smiled tiredly to Arisa. They heard the door to the room open and they both turned to look.

"Someone I knew I'd find you two in here," Principal Minami, Minami Kotori's mother, said as she looked into the room.

"Ah, Principal Minami, what brings you here?" Yukiho asked.

"Just here to remind you to hurry home for Muse's TV performance. The preshow special is going to start soon."

"Ah that's right!" Arisa said, realizing that she forgot. She grabbed her bag. "Come on, Yukiho-chan!"

Yukiho barely had time to grab her bag before Arisa took her by the wrist and started pulling her through the hall. Principal Minami looked after them as they ran down the hall. She laughed a little in amusement. Usually, she would be the first person to tell students not to run in the halls. However, she can make an exception in this case. She needs to hurry home, as well.

* * *

An hour or so later, a couple hundred miles away, a few girls were in a dressing room, getting each other ready.

Kotori finished adjusting Maki's hair. She carefully placed her cap on, then spun Maki to face the mirror.

"Well?" she asked.

"Thanks, looks great," Maki answered. "Although.."

"Hm?"

Maki turned around and started fixing Kotori's hair. "Just need to tidy up a bit..."

Kotori waited till Maki was finished. She looked in the mirror. "Perfect."

Umi finished tying Nozomi's other hair tie, while Nozomi was fixing Rin's outfit. After, Rin fixed Umi's belt. Elsewhere, Eri and Hanayo took turns fixing each other's caps and ribbons. Nico had been pacing a little. The door to the dressing room swung open, and Honoka stood there, panting slightly from running.

"There you are!" Nico said, hurrying over to Honoka.

"Sorry.." Honoka breathed.

"It's fine," Nico said. She started fixing Honoka's outfit.

"We go on in five minutes," Honoka told the rest of the room. The other girls nodded.

"Everyone ready?" Eri asked. Again, everyone nods.

"There," Nico said as she finished, stepping back.

"Thanks," Honoka said, and they shared a quick kiss. "Alright, Let's go!"

They filed out of the dressing room and took their positions off stage.

"Ah, look at all the people here," Rin said quietly, peering from the side of the stage.

"Yeah.." Honoka said. "We really came a long way, haven't we?

"To think, we were just trying to save our school," Kotori said.

"And now we're real idols," Hanayo finished.

"It almost feels unreal," Maki thought.

"I knew we would make it," Nico said.

"Somehow, I did too," Umi asked.

"It was definitely meant to be," Nozomi said.

"Agreed. We worked really hard, and definitely eared this," Eri said.

Across the stage, one of the staff signaled to Honoka that they were about to go on. She turned back to the rest of the group, and motioned them to come together. The nine of them gathered in a circle. Each put their hands in, two fingers out to form their nine-pointed star. They started counting off.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

"Six!"

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

"Nine!"

"Alright Muse, let's go!"

The lights to the stage darkened, and the crowd started to quiet down. Muse took their positions on stage in the darkness, waiting for the announcer.

_"And now, here to perform their newest single live, please give a round of applause for Muse!"_

A few spotlights shined, and the track for "Wonderful Rush" started.

* * *

**Hey guys, nobodD here!**

**Kind of a short final chapter, I know. But I wanted it to be a simple fast-forward kind of chapter. I'd imagine that after a few years Muse would be quiet popular, being asked to travel around and perform live. Who knows, maybe even more popular!**

**I had to end it with them about to perform another single. Although this time it wasn't the process of them making it. It was just a quick back-stage prep before they go live. And of course we have to include their little cheer ;) We started with it so we had to end with it.**

**Thank you so much for following along with this story. It was a fun little project for me and a fun first attempt at a fanfic story. Hope you guys liked it!**

**Hope to see you around on more stories or one-shots. Remember I'm open to requests for pairings!**

**See you next time~**


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